IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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1.25 


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Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographis  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


iZ 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


D 


Couverture  endommagie 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaur^e  et/ou  peillculAe 


r~n    Cover  title  missing/ 


La  titre  de  couverture  manque 


□    Coloured  maps/ 
Cartes  giographiquas  en  couleur 

□    Coloured  ink  (i  e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

I      I    Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 


D 
D 


D 


D 


Planches  et/cu  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
ReliA  avec  d'autres  documents 


Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  mcrgin/ 

La  re  liure  serr^c  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  da  la 
distorsion  l«  long  de  la  marge  intirieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajouties 
lors  dune  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  itait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  iti  filmies. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppl^mentaires: 


The  c 
totN 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilliur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  iti  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-dtre  uniques  du 
point  de  vuo  bibiiographique,  nui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mithode  normale  de  filmage 
son;  indiquAs  ci-dessous. 

□    Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 

□    Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagies 

I      I    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 


Pages  restaur^es  et/ou  pellicul^es 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  titcolories,  tacheties  ou  piquees 


Thai 
possi 
of  th( 
filmir 


Origii 
begir 
the  It 
sion, 
other 
firrt  I 
slon, 
or  nil 


□    Pages  detached/ 
Pages  ddtachees 

F^    Showthrouch/ 
oLJ    Transparence 

I      I    Quality  of  print  varies/ 


n 


Quality  in^gaie  de  I'impressicn 

Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplementaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


The  I 
shall 
T!NU 
whici 

Maps 
diffei 
entlri 
begin 
right 
requi 
meth 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  cnt  6t6  fitm^es  d  nouveau  de  facon  a 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filmi  au  taux  de  rMuction  indiqui  ci-dessous. 

18X  22X 


10X 


14X 


26X 


30X 


J 


12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


The  copy  filmed  here  hes  *>een  reproduced  thank* 
Xo  tt^e  6«n«!i'oeity  of: 

Library  of  the  Piibiic 
Archivec  of  Canada 


L'exempiaire  fiimA  fut  reproduit  yrAce  5  ia 
gAnirosit*  ae: 

La  bibiiothique  des  Archives 
pubiiquet  du  Canada 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quaiity 
possibie  considering  the  condition  and  iegibiiity 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  Iteeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  6t4  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet6  Je  l'exempiaire  film4,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  peper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
firrt  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  Smpression. 


Les  exemplairas  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimte  sont  filmiis  en  commen^ant 
par  le  premier  pSat  et  en  terniinant  soit  par  la 
dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empisinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustretion,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tnus  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmte  w,  commenpant  par  la 
prdmlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte    - 
d'impression  ou  d'illustretion  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — ^>  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaftra  sur  la 
derniire  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  — «►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmou 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diograms  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
filmte  A  des  taux  de  reduction  diff Arents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  eeul  cliche,  il  est  f  iim*  A  partir 
de  Tangle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  it  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nicessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  m4thod9. 


1  2  3 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

JO 


TWO  LECTUllES 


ON 


NEWFOUNDLAND, 


DEUVERKD  AT 


ST.    BONAVENTURE'S    COLLEGE, 


JANUAEY  25,  AND  FEllKirAEY  1,  1860, 


BY 


THE  RIGHT  HEV.  DR.  MULLOCK. 


Neto  F.jrft: 
JOHN  MULLALY,  OFFICE  OF  THE  METUOrOLITAN  KECOGD, 

No.   419   BROADWAY. 

1860. 


til 

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late 


6i 


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FIRST  LECTURE. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen,— Tlio  subject  on  whicli  I  Iiave 
tlie  honor  of  addressing  you  this  evening  is  one  of  particu- 
lar interest  to  us-it  is  the  land  we  live  in,  Newfoundland, 
the  native  or  adopted  country  of  all  here  present.     Of  all 
the  feelings  implanted  in  the  heart  of  man,  next  to  religion, 
there  is  none  so  strong  as  patriotism  :  the  duke  et  decorum 
est  pro  patria  mori  (it  is  sweet  and  honorable  to  die  for  one's 
country),  is  not  alone  the  expression  of  t!ie  pagan  moralist, 
it  is  the  universal  feeling  of  all  people  in  ancient  and  mod- 
ern times  :  nay,  more  ;  we  know  that  our  Divine  Kedecmcr 
himself,  when  foretelling  the  destruction  of  the  capital  of 
his  people,  Jerusalem,  pointing  out  from   the  summit  of 
Mount  Olivet  the  glories  of  the  Temple,  the  golden  vine, 
his  own  image  sparkling  in  the  setting  sun,  the  lofty  tow- 
ers of  the  city  of  David,  the  massive  walls  which  for  so 
long  a  i^eriod  resisted  all  the  efforts  of  the  Roman  power, 
wept  over  it,  and  lamented  that  the  crimes  of  its  inlia1)it- 
ant?  should  have  provoked  the  Divine  Justice  not  to  leave 
one  stone  on  another.    It  is,  then,  to  encourage  this  sacred 
feeling  of  patriotism  among  the  youtli  I  now  see  around 
me,  that  I  have  been  induced  to  take  the  subject  of  New- 
foundland in  this  and  the  following  lecture  as  most  calcu- 
lated to  foster  it.    It  is  a  great  and  noble  country,  a 


country  of  untold  wealth,  of  wonderful  and  unknown  re- 
sources, and  the  few  people  who  now  fringe  itrf  shore  (for 
130,000  inhal)itant3  arc  b'lt  the  germ  of  a  future  popula- 
tion of  millions),  sprung  froni  the  most  energetic  nations 
of  modern  times,  English,  Irish,  and  Scotch.,  possessing  in 
themselves  and  intermingling  the  poetic  and  liorj  imagina- 
tion of  the  Celt,  the  steadiness  and  perseverance  of  the 
Saxon,  and  the  enterprise  and  coolness  of  the  North  Brit- 
ons, arc  destined  to  be  the  founders  of  a  race  which,  I 
believe,  will  fill  an  important  place  hereafter  among  the 
hundreds  of  millions  who  will  inhabit  the  western  l.>emi- 
sphcres  in  a  few  ages.     I  will,  in  this  lecture,  rather  con- 
fine myself  to  the  past  of  Newfoundland,  reserving  for 
another  occasion  the  description  in  detail  of  the  country 
and  its  future  prospects.    Every  country  inhabited  by  man 
has  more  or  less  a  history — the  more  anciently  civilized  em- 
pires, the  Assyrian,  the  Grecian,  the  Roman,  have  left  after 
them  imperishable  records  of  tiieir  greatness.    The  last 
of  the  empires,  however,  the  Roman,  is  the  mother  of  all 
civilization  and  polity.    Rome  moulded  all  the  nations  of 
the  West  and  the  civilized  people  of  the  East,  into  a  great 
empire,  and  from  its  fragments  the  modern  nations,  re-en- 
forced by  the  barbaric  energy  of  the  northern  tribes,  have 
sprung.     In  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth,  and  sixteenth  cen- 
turies, the  people  of  Southern  Europe,  the  Spaniards,  Por- 
tuguese, and  Italians,  were  not  only  the  most  advanced  in 
material  and  mental  progress,  in  literature,  arts,  and  arms, 
but  also  the  most  enterprising,  the  most  commercial,  and 
the  most  adventurous  of   all  other   nations.    In   1492, 
Columbus,   the  great   Genoese  navigator,  after  hearing 
Mass,  and,  together  with  his  crew,  receiving  the  Holy 


5 


Communion,  in  tho  Franciscan  Cliurcli  of  N".  >?.  la  Holla, 
in  Palos  in  Andalnsia,  from  the  Lands  of  liis  friend  and 
patron,  Fr.  John  Peres,  the  guardian  of  the  coiivent,  un- 
furled  the  golden  banner  of  Spain,  crossed  the  wide  n'astc 
of  waters,  and  gave  a  new  world  to  Castile  and  Leon. 
Only  five  years  after,  in  1197,  Cabot,  another  Italian,  a 
Venetian,  discovered  Newfoundland.     Although  these  two 
great  men  arc  always  called  the  discoverers  of  America, 
still  it  is  certain  that  at  least  the  northern  i)arts  of  it  had 
been  visited,  and  perhaps  partially  settled  by  the  North- 
men  of  the  Middle  Ages.     There  always  existed  a  dim 
tradition  that  the  western  shores  of  Europe  were  not  tho 
boundaries  of  the  world.     The  legend  of  St.  Brandon,  tho 
Bishop  of  Kerry,  in  the  south  of  Ireland,  sailing  across 
the  Atlantic  and  discovering  an  island  of  the  blessed,  and 
the  Atlantis  of  Plato,  were  but  the  traditional  embod' 
ment  of  a  fact.     Columbus  visited  Iceland  to  seek  the 
among  tJ'c  traditions  of  the  natives  some  clue  to  the  m> 
tery  of  the  ocean.     We  know  not  what  an  encouragcmcn 
he  may  have  received  there,  to  persevere  in  his  almost 
hopeless  enterprise,  but  modern  research  has  proved  that 
the  traditions  were  not  without  foundation.     Tho  Society 
of  Northern  Antiquaries  has  done  much  to  c^ear  away  the 
mist  which  obscures  that  most  interesting  portion  of  his- 
tory.    Professor  Rafa  has  collected  and  translated  very 
many  of  the  songs  of  the  Scalds,  or  Scandinavian  poets 
recounting  the  voyages  of  their  countrymen  to  the  west- 
ern land  ;  many  of  them  have  been  translated  into  English 
by  Mr.  Beamish,  of  Cork,  and  are  most  interesting  to  all 
early  historians  of  America.     We  know  for  certain,  that 
about  the  year  981  or  982  Erie,  called  the  Red,  a  Norwe- 


6 


ginn  Viking,  discovcreu  Grocnluiul,  ami  that  a  bishop's 
SCO  wa.s  cstahlishod  in  that  inhospitable  roj,'ion  about  the 
year  1021.     A  \ht  of  the  bishops  of  thut  remote  aco  has 
l)ccii  j:rescrvc(l  down  to  1400,  nearly  four  hundred  years, 
when  all  romniunication  between  it  and  the  Mother  Coun- 
try ceased,  and  the  imperfect  civilization  introduced  per- 
ished.    A  few  ruins  of  walls,  or  stone  fences  now  mark 
the  sight  of  the  Norwegian  Colony.     It  is  quite  natural  to 
suppose  that  these  adventurous  marinei's,  w!io  crossed  over 
to  Iceland  and  Greenland  so  frequently,  woidd  not  content 
themselves  witliout  passinr;  the  few  hundred  miles  which 
separated  them  from  the  Western  twntinent,  only  about 
five  hundred  from  tho  western   seaboard  of   Greenland. 
Accordingly  we  find  accounts  of  voyages  to,  nnd  .-settle- 
ments in,  Ilelluland,  Viuland,  Markland,  and  Ireland  it 
Mikla — Ilelluland  is  supitosed  to  be  the  barren  and  stony 
land  of  Labrador,  Viidand  or  Winland  Newfoundland ; 
but  then  as  we  have  i;o  wild  vines,  many  learned  men  trans- 
fer the  name  to  some  more  southern  land  in  the  present 
United  States,  while  others  again  say  that  the  Northmen 
looked  on  the  abundance  of  the  raspbvjrry  plant  as  enti- 
tling the  country  to  the  name  of  Vinland.     Markland  is 
supposed  to  be  Nova  Scotia,  or  Main  ;  and  Ireland  it 
Mickla,  or  great  Ireland,  the  main  Continent  of  America, 
the  present  United  States.     It  is  very  improbable  that  so 
many  accounts  of  voyages  would  be  preserved,  the  names 
of  the  discoverers  and  navigators,  the  birth  of  some  of 
their  children  recorded,  the  wreck  of  one  of  their  ships  on 
Keeler  Ness,  Ke^l  Capo  or  Ship  Cape,  and  the  locality 
marked  ou^.  now  Keels  in  Boi  a,  Vista  B  *y,  by  the  certain 
but  rude  way  of  determining  the  northern  latitude,  that 


IS  the  length  of  the  longest  day  in  the  summer  .solstice  if 
It  were  all  a  work  of  in.aginution.     i  have  no  doubt  but 
ha    these  sea.king,s,  after  establishing  o.lonies  in  CJreen- 
land  and  Iceland,  visited  this  country  and  mado  some  .et- 
tle.nents  here,  but  I  beli.-ve  the  fo^v  people  they  brought 
with  then,  either  perished  in  their  wars  with  the  Skroel- 
ligers,  or  Es.jui.naux,  or  that  the  ren.nant  left  the  country 
which  thoy  could  not  then  hav    found  very  invitin-      The 
real  cause,  1  should  innigine,  of  the  abandonn.ent  of  these 
lands  was  the  invasion  of  more  genial  climes  and  polished 
i.at.ons  ,  ^  the  Nortlnnen.     When  they  obtained  possession 
0    one  of  .he  finest  provinces  of  Frun.e.  now  called  after 
thorn  Norn>andy,  when  they  settled  in  x\ortlaunbei-land 
aud  along  tue  fertile  banks  of  the  Shannon,  the  estuaries' 
of    he  L.fley  and  the  Suir,  in  Lin.erick,  AVaterford,  Cork 
iJubl.n,  V  u'klow,  and  many  other  Danish  towns  in  Ire-' 
land,  and  when  they  showed  such  a  capacity  for  t!  ^  re- 
•na.ns  of  civilisation  lingering  in  the  Iloman  Empire  as  to 
adoi)t  the  languages,  the  arts,  and  the  sciences  of  the  prov- 
inces they  conquered,  .ve  may  naturally  imagine  that  the 
tide  of  adventurous  emigration  would  be  directed  from 
tl>e  frightful  shores  of  Greenland   and  Iceland,  or  the 
J-u?god   and  uninviting   localities  of   Newfoundland,   or 
Northern  Continental  America,  to  the  shores  of  the  Seine 
"1  sminng  France,  or  the  rich  pastures  of  Ireland  and 
England.     The  western  land  would  soon  be  foro-otto 
there  would  bo  no  inducement  to  cross  a  stormy  ocean  in 
ships  not  as  large  as  our  western  boats,  when  they  could 
coast  along  the  shores  of  Europe,  and  find  their  country- 
men settled  in  the  maritime  districts  of  a  civilized  country. 
It  IS  said  that  a  G  -^nland  lishop,  Eric,  visited  Winland 


^t 


in  1121,  to  cndea''Or  to  reconvert  his  countr3'men  to  Chris- 
tianity, which  tlicy  liacl  forgotten  in  tliose  tlien  remote  and 
desolate  regions — yet  all  appears  buried  in  obscurity.  We 
know  quite  enough  to  excite  our  curiosity,  not  to  satisfy 
it,  and  it  is  impossible  that  tlie  real  history  of  tlie  North- 
men in  America  will  be  ever  cleared  up.  They  left  no 
monuments  after  them ;  like  all  people  who  have  abund- 
ance of  wood,  they  would  not  build  stone  houses,  and  the 
only  records  we  have  of  their  existence  here,  ai'e  the  songs 
of  the  Scalds,  or  the  histories  of  Adam  Bremen  or  others 
who  lived  ages  subsequent  to  their  settlement  here,  and 
embodied  tlie  traditions,  half  fact  and  half  fable,  which 
they  found  floating  in  the  songs  and  the  legends  of  the 
people,  in  the  histories  they  compiled. 

We  now  leave  the  doubtful  region  of  romance  and  fable, 
mingled  with  some  facts,  for  the  sure  ground  of  history. 
The  wonderful  discoveries  of  Columbus  had  excited,  in  a 
degree  wc  ^nd  it  difficult  to  comprehend,  the  enthusiasm 
of  Europe — a  new  world  appeared,  not  as  a  discovery,  but 
almost  as  a  in  f  creation.  Every  maritime  and  commer- 
cial nation  was  aroused,  and  all  wished  to  particip-^te  in 
the  glorious  inheritance  acquired  for  Spain  by  the  Genoese 
mariner.  In  England  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  were  now 
at  an  end,  the  regal  pretensions  of  York  and  Lancaster 
were  united  in  the  person  of  Henry  VII.,  by  his  marriage, 
the  ancient  aristocracy  of  the  land  had  almost  perished, 
the  crown,  as  always  happens  after  a  civil  war,  was 
strengthened,  and  the  people,  weary  of  bloodshed,  re- 
signed in  a  great  measure  their  liberties  into  the  liands  of 
the  Tudor  sovereigns,  and  only  looked  for  repcse.  The 
Italians  almost  monopolized  tlio  American  discoveries,  and 


9 

two  brothers  of  the  name  of  Gabota,  Venetians,  resided 
in  Br.^tol ;  they  offered  their  services  to  Henry  Yl[    to 
make  discoveries  in  the  Northern  Oeean,  and  find,  perha'ns 
a  passage  to  India  by  that  route  ;  the  offer  was  accepted' 
and  on  the  20th  of  June,  1497,  Sebastian  Gabota,  or  as 
h.s  name  was  anglicized,  Cabot,  discovered  Newfoundland 
and  gave  the  name  of  Bona  Vista,  happy  sight,  or  happy' 
view,  to  the  cape  he  first  sighted,  which  Italian  appclla- 
t.on  It  retains  to  the  present  day.     He  returned  the  same 
year  and  brought  with  him  three  of  the  natives  of  the 
island,amce  which  has  now  been  cruelly  exterminated. 
I  here  pause  to  say  a  few  words  of  the  aborigines  of  the 
country.     It  was  supposed  at  first  that  this  interesting- 
people  were  the  descendants  of  the  Northmen  of  whom  I 
have  spc.cen :  the  science  of  ethnology,  however,  proves 
this  not  to  be  the  fact-the  skulls  of  those  people  showed 
them  to  belong  to  the  American  or  Mongolian  race  and 
not  to   the   Cai5casian   of  which   the  Northmen  were   a 
branch  ;  a  semi-eivilized  people  may  become  savage,  bJt 
never  so  change  the  form  of  the  craniimi  as  tx)  acquire  the 
characteristics  of  another  race,  until  entirely  absorbed  by 
generations  of  intermarriage.     It  may  be  that  a  little  of 
the  northern  blood  mixed  in  the  aboriginal  stream,  but  all 
traces  of  it  were  soon  lost.     We  know  they  called  them- 
selves  Beoths,  that  they  painted  themselves  with  red  ochre 
as  the  Britons  of  old  did  with  woad,  and  hence,  thev  were 
called  by  the  settlers.  Red  Indians.     They  were  clothed 
in  robes  of  skin,  their  arms  were  the  bow  and  arrow  and 
spear,  like  those  of  all  uncivilized  nations.     Thoy  lived 
by  hunting  and  preserved  the  flesh  of  the  deer  by  bucan- 
nmg.     They  made  enormous  fences,  such  as  arc  used  in 


10 


Ceylon  to  ciitrai>  elephants,  sometimes  extending  as  far  as 
thirty  miles  and  converging  to  a  point  where  the  deer  in 
their  migration  were  obliged  to  pass  ;  thus  tiiey  were  en- 
abled to  kill  large  quantities  which  served  them  both  for 
food  and  raiment.     Tiicir  huts  are  represented  as  comfort- 
able, and  capable  of  lodging  several  families.     Of  their 
religion  we  know  nothing,  but  something  like  a  carved 
human  head  is  said  to  have  been  found  in  one  of  their 
houses,  which  would  lead  us  to  believe  that  they  practiced 
a  species  of  idolatry.     A  Florentine  writer,  llucellai,  in 
15G0,  in  a  general  atlas  of  tl.'c  world,  gives  a  very  imper- 
fect map  of  Newfoundland,  and  a  short  description  of  tJjio 
people.    They,  he  says,  arc  barbarous,  and  savage,  eat 
large  quantities  of  the  fish  called  baccaloas,  or  codfish, 
raw  meat,  and  even  human  flesh  (which  was  false,  for  they 
were  never  known  to  be  cannibals)  and  they  adore  the 
sun,  the  stars,  or  any  thing  that  strikes  their  fancy.     We 
see  tl;at  there  was  a  very  erroneous  opinion  entertained  of 
the  Beoths  at  the  time  ;  the  arts  of  civilization  were  never 
tried  on  them,  they  were  a  fierce  people  and  resented  tlie 
intrusion  of  the  English  on  their  salmon  fisheries,  and  of 
tlie  Micmac  Indians  on   their  hunting  grounds.     Tlieir 
bows  and  arrows  were  no  match  for  the  musket  of  the 
white  man  and  the  Indian,  and  tiie  government,  too  late, 
were  aroused  to  the  iniquity  of  leaving  this  interesting 
])eople  to  the  cruelty  of  the  Micmacs,  and  of  the  whites 
more  cruel  than  the  savage.    The  entire  race,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  individuals,  had  perished,  and  no  trace  of 
them  is  now  to  bo  found  in  Newfoundland,  unless  their 
graves  and  the  mouldering  remains  of  their  huts  and  their 
deer  fences.     I  have  made  every  inquiry  I  possibly  could 


11 


among  our  own  people,  and  Indians  employed  by  the  o-ov- 
crnment  to  look  out  for  ti.em.     Tl.eir  haunts  have  b^en 
explored,  but  their  graves  alone  remain,  their  fires  are  ex- 
tinguished forever,  and  their  fate  is  a  disgrace  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  those  days  who  took  no  steps  for  their  civiliza- 
tion or  preservation.    I  have  some  slight  reason  to  Miink 
that  a  remnant  of  these  people  remains  in  the  interior  of 
Labrador-a  person  told  me  there  some  time  a-o  that  a 
party  of  mountaineer  Indians  saw  at  some  distance  (about 
fifty  miles  from  the  sea-coast)  a  party  of  strange  Indians 
clothed  m  long  robes  or  cassocks  of  skin,  who  fled  from 
them  ;  they  lost  sight  of  them  in  a  little  time,  but  on  com- 
ing up  to  their  tracks,  they  were  surprised  ^o  see  the 
length  of  their  strides,  which  showed  tliem  to  be  men  of  a 
large  race,  and  neither  Micmac,  Mountaineer,  nor  Esqui- 
maux.   I  believe  that  these  were  the  remains  of  the  Beothio 
nation,  and  as  they  never  saw  citlier  a  white  or  red  man 
but  as  enemies,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  they  fled  • 
such  IS  tiie  only  trace  I  could  find  of  the  Bcoths      We 
may  wonder  why  England,  after  such  a  valuable  discoverv 
d.d  not  avail  herself  of  the  acquisition ;  but  soon  aft;r 
Henry  VIII.  commenced  the  Reformation,  as  it  is  called 
squandered  the  treasures  left  by  his  parsimonious  father' 
Henry  Vll.-who  munificently  rewarded  Cabot  with  the 
Sinn  of  ^10  for  discovering  the  JYew  Island,  which,  about 
lus  tune,  got  the  nnmo  of  Newfoundland,  a  name  so  ridicu- 
lous in  itself  that  nothing  but  the  sanction  of  a-es  can 
reconcile  us  to  it.    No  gold  was  discovered,  no  silver 
mines  poured  tlieir  treasures  into  the  exhausted  coffers  of 
Henry,  and  so  the  Biscayans  who  are  said  to  ha.-  fishoa 
on  the  Banks,  and  to  have  been  aware  of  the  exi.tcace  of 


12 


the  island  even  before  or  as  early  as  Cabot,  tlie  Bretons, 
the  Spaniards,  and  Portuguese,  enriched  themselves  by  the 
inexhaustible  mine  of  tlie  fisheries  ;  wliile  Henrv  and  his 
nobles  were  impoverishing  themselves  by  the  useless  pa- 
geant of  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold  or  the  wars  in 
Franco,  and  endeavoring  to  repair  their  shattered  fortunes 
by  the  plunder  of  the  Church.  An  English  captain  wrote 
a  letter  to  Henry  VIII.,  on  the  3d  of  August,  1527,  in 
which  he  tells  him  that  in  the  port  of  St.  John's  he  found 
eleven  ships  from  Normandy  and  three  from  Britanny  en- 
gaged in  the  cod  fishery.  As  all  Europe  was  Catholic  at 
tlie  time  of  the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus,  and  of 
Newfoundland  by  Cabot,  we  fi:d  that  the  names  imposed 
by  the  early  navigators  were  either  the  names  of  the 
saints  on  whose  days  the  land  was  discovered,  or  the  names 
of  some  localities  in  thoir  own  country  which  it  resembled, 
or  names  descriptive  of  some  natural  feature  distinguish- 
ing the  place — a  most  favorable  contrast  with  the  vulgar 
or  trivial  names  given  by  subsequent  navigators.  Thus 
Ave  may  imagine  the  anxiety  of  Cabot,  looking  out  for  land 
on  the  western  horizon,  v\-hon  from  the  lofty  mast  a  sailor 
cries  out,  land !  The  Italian,  perhaps  often  deceived  by 
fog-banks,  sees  at  length  the  cape  well  defined,  the  surges 
breaking  on  the  Spillcrs,  the  dark  green  of  the  foi-est, 
gives  expression  to  his  feelings  in  his  own  musical  tongue, 
and  cries  out,  Bona  Vista !  Oh,  happy  sight !  Caspar  de 
Cortercale,  a  valiant  and  religious  Portuguese,  especially 
devoted  to  the  B.  Virgin  and  St.  Francis,  discovers  the 
great  Bay  of  Conception,  and  calls  it  after  the  great  mys- 
tery of  the  Immaculate  Virgin,  Conception  Bay,  and  the 
cape  at  its  entrance,  C.  St.  Francis  ;  he  also  named  St. 


13 


Lewis  and  St.  Francis  Bays  on  tlio  Labrador.     Go  round 
the  shores  of  the  island,  and  you  will  sec  the  Catholic  feel- 
ing which  named  the  bays— Conception,  St.  Mary's,  and 
Notre  Dame  Bay,  dedicated  to  the  B.  Virgin— Trinity 
Bay,  including  the  harbor  of  St.  Bonaventure,  Catalina 
Bay,  or  St.  Catharine's,  Catalina,  like  Kathleen  in  L-ish, 
being  the  musical  Spanish  term  for  Kate  or  Catharine,  St.' 
Clare's  Bay,  now  SI.  George's,  St.  John's,  St.  Peter's,  St. 
Jude's.  now  C.  Judy,  Trepassey,  the  Bay  of  the  Trepasses, 
or  All  Souls.    Again  :  we  have  the  French  recollections  of 
their  own  smiling  land  in  Audicrne,  C.  Frechel  or  Freels, 
Plaisance  or  Placentia,  on  account  of  its  beautiful  situa- 
tion, the  Portuguese  Fermosa  or  Ferraeusc  beautiful,  Hc- 
news  rocky,  and  numberless  others,  a  most  happy  contrast 
certainly  with   Bay  of  Despair,   Fortune  Bay,  Gallows 
Harbor,  Pinch  Gut,  Push  Thro',  Piper's  Hole,  Old  Shop, 
Bread  and  Cheese,  Exploits,  and  many  others  too  trivial 
and  vulgar  to  mention.     In  1534,  Jacques  Cartier,  the 
great  French  navigator,  visited  the  island  and  named  many 
capes  and  bays,    hi  1583,  Sir  Humphey  Gilbert  took  pos- 
session of  St.  John's,  put  up  the  queen's  arms,  Elizabeth's, 
and  established  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  as  the  only 
form  of  worship  to  be  used  forever  in  the  island.     The 
country  was  now  about  to  commence  a  new  pliase  of  ex- 
istence which,  however,   ended  in   disappointment.     Sir 
George  Calvert,  subsequently  Lord  Baltimore,  having  ob- 
tained an  Irish  peerage,  got  from  King  James  a  Tai-gc 
grant  of  land  from  Bay  Bulls  to  Cape  St.  Mary's.     A  zeal- 
ous Catholic  and  most  enlightened  philanthropist,  which 
he  proved  himself  to  be  by  the  universal  toleration  he  es- 
tablished in  his  now  colony  of  Maryland  (the  only  part  of 


14 


the  world  in  that  ago  where,  as  long  as  Catholics  held 
power,  conscience  was  legally  free,  and  no  religious  test 
was  required  for  the  enjoyment  of  citizenship,  or  office), 
established  a  colony  in  Fcrryland,  and  laid  the  foundation 
of  what,  but  for  adverse  circumstances,  would  be  a  great 
State  at  present.     As  he  was  thoroughly  Catholic  and  En- 
glish, he  wished  to  perpetuate  the  religious  memories  of 
the  English  Church  in  his  new  plantation ;  accordingly  ho 
gave  the  name  of  Avalon  to  his  province.     It  was  a  tradi- 
tion in  the  early  British  Church,  though  it  will  not  stand 
the  test  of  criticism  perhaps,  that  St.  Joseph  of  Arimatliea, 
after  the  passion  of  our  Lord,  fled  from  the  persecution  of 
the  Jews  and  took  refuge  in  Britain.     lie  came,  it  is  said, 
to  Avalon,  afterward  called  Glastonbury,  in  Somersetshire, 
und  founded  there  a  church,  whicli  was  looked  on  subse- 
quently by  Britons,  Saxons,  and  Normans,  as  the  cradle  of 
British  Christianity.     A  splendid  abbey  which   covered 
sixty  acres  was  subsequently  erected,  but  perished  in  the 
so-called   Reformation,  along  with  the  other  glories  of 
Catholic  England.     There  is  an  ancient  Roman  town,  now 
called  from  the  great  abbey  subsequently  built  there,  St. 
Alban's,  but  in  ancient  times  called  Verulam.     Tiie  proto- 
rnartyr  of  Britain,  St.  Alban,  there  shed  his  blood  for 
Christ,  and  the  abbey  and  town  afterward  took  his  name. 
Calvert,  wishing  then  to  revive  those  Catholic  glories  of 
his  country,  called  the  province  we  now  inliabit,  Avalon, 
in  honor  of  St.  Joseph  of  Arimathca,  and  his  own  town 
Verulam,  in  honor  of  St.  Alban.     Like  most  of  Ihe  for- 
eign names,  French  or  Spanish,  tliis  was  corrupted  into 
Ferulam  first,  and  next  into  the  modern  mamc  of  Ferr}'- 
land.     Calvert  spent  over  .£30,000,  an  immense  sum  in 


15 

those  days,  in  u,e  settlement,  but  a  grant  of  a  more  favored 
temtory  on  the  Chesapeake,  the  ineursions  of  Indians, 
and  the  attaeks  of  the  Frenel,  indueed  him  to  forsake 
New  oundiand,  and  to  establish  Maryland,  ealled  after 
Charles  s  queen,  and  the  city  of  Baltimore,  ealled  after 
-s    nsh  tUle      Thus  Newfoundland  sustained  an  irrepara- 
ble loss  w  ,eh  retarded  its  progress  for  two  centuries, 
he  French  on  the  other  side  of  the  peninsula  founded 
the  town  of  Plaeentia-the  environing  hill,  the  two  arms 
of  t!,e  sea  with  a  rapid  tidal  current  reminding  the  French 
of  the  arrowy  Rhone  in  their  own  land,  and  the  almost 
total  exemption  from  fog  in  a  bay  remarkable  for  it  in- 
duced them  to  call  it  Plaisance,  a  pleasant  place,  ilow 
Placentia.    They  early  saw  the  importance  of  the  acquisi- 
•on,  and  provided  for  its  security  by  strong  fortifications, 
liicse  are  now  in  ruins-they  have  served  as  a  quarry  for 
the  few  buildings  requiring  stone  or  brick.     The  ^reat 
demilune  which  guarded  the  entrance  of  the  port  is  now  a 
shapeless  heap  of  rubbish,  its  vaulted  briek  casements  have 
been  all  destroyed,  and  the  remains  of  a  castle  on  Creve- 
ceur  Hill  are  slowly  perishing.     It  is  remarkable  that 
several  properties  are  still  held  in  Placentia  by  virtue  of 
the  original  French  titles,  and  such  importance  did  the 
government  of  Louis  XIV.,  the  grand  monarch,  attach  to 
the  possession  of  the  place,  that  all  the  grants  are  si<.ned 
by  the  king's  own  hand,  and  countersigned  by  his  minister 
Plulippeau.    Nor  were  the  French  oblivious  of  the  neces- 
sity of  religion  in  their  new  settlement  a  convent  of  Fran- 
ciscans, a  branch  of  the  convent  of  Our  Lady  of  Ano-els 
of  Quebec,  was  established  there  in  1689,  on  the  site  oflho 
present  Protestant  Church  and  buryi.g  ground,  and  a  few 


16 

".a.  >  out  tl,c  place  whore  it  stoo.l.    Most  of  ti,e  Frenoh 
«n.c„dor  or  tl,o  place  by  P,.aueo,a„d  applied  to  tl    I 

"em  St.  YalLc,,  ,„a,Ie  a  vi.sitatiou  of  Placentia  and  tl^e 

ac.gl,bo„„g  parts  in  compa,.y  witl,  Father  Gior^ieu  a„d 

son.eof.ep       iscaaco.™. 

0,  Is  of  tl,o  fo,uKlal,„„  of  tl,o  convert  and  of  the  episco- 
P^l  v,s,tat.onare  in  the  archiepiscopal  archives  of  qTc 
1ln^^yo  see  two  great  and  ,,owerf„I  nations  established 

:  ":  f  ""■"".'  ^^'«"■'■".".<I■a..cl,  opposed  in  polities,  in  I 
^  est,  ,n  ,.o|,g,o„,  and  it  is  easy  to  in,agi„o  that  the  pr^ 
g  es  of  the  country  „nst  have  been,  not  only  retarded  but 
absolntcly  imijossiblo.    A  series  of  sl-i,.,.  •  i  , 

fin,  „„,  „,  .         ""^  ^'^""^  »'  *l»™i3hes,  naval  bat- 

b  ,  a,^  0  seure  s.eges  follow,  nntil  the  treaty  of  Utrecht 
13,  when  the  !•  reneh,  exhanstrf  l>y  ,var,  were  obliged 
to  .  OMgn  al  clann  to  Newfonndland,  to  evacuate  St.  John's 

Ineh  they  held  for  Ave  years  prcvio.ly  and  were  strongly 
foU,fy,ng,  retaining  only  the  sn.all  island  of  St.  Pie™ 
and  «,,„„„„,„„,  y,„  ,i„„„f  „,.       ^_.^,^  0 

oa  K  gland  now  obtained  the  dominion  of  the  entire 
1  Ibn  had  no  .ntention  of  colonizing  it.  She  wished 
to  .eta,n  rt  as  the  French  do  the  north  and  west  shores  at 
P-ent  as  a  nur.sory  for  her  seamen,  and  to  n,a  til 
.  ches  of  the  deep  in  Newfoundland  contribute  .„ 
s.re„gth  and  to  the  wealth  of  England.  Freedon,  o 
Cathohe  worsh.p  w.s  by  treuy  allowed  to  the  French 


17 

jMonts  but  with  the  «i„i.,to..  provLso,  -.  „,  „„•  as  .l,o  laws 
of  E,,.  an.,  pon„it."     G„von,„,.  Edward,,  taking  a.lvant- 
"?   "f  tin,  gave  sue,  annoyance  to  t„c  FrcnC.  Catl.olic, 
and  tl,o„.  c,e,.«.  tl.at  al,no,t  ail  of  tl,o,„  sold  tl.oir  proper- 
.OS  and  loft  tl,e  island  ;  tl,„s  a  body  of  usefnl  eiti.Cs  were 
lost  to   i,e  eolony  tl.rongl,  tl.ese  bigoted  proeocdings.  but 
wo  mnst  ,„  justice  „,aUc  a.iowanee  for  the  prejudices  of  t„o 
a  0.    In  t  ,c  rc,gn  of  King  William  in.,  by  an  e.traordi- 
ary  statute,  a  for,„  of  n.isrule  was  established  teudin.  ,o 
d.scou,.agc  settlement  and  cr.ate  interminable  conrusio;_ 
the  three  first  r.sbiug  captains  arriving  i„  the  island  c  eh 
summer,  took  the  names  of  admiral,  viecadmiral,  and  rear- 
a.b„,ral,  and  without  any  qualification,  except  the  priority 
"     rr.val,  became  u,agisirates,  e.npowered  to  decide  al 

st  :7i:" :, ""'  ^'■" ""°'- ''"  ™^ =™s'--  -i-t 

so.  t  of  aws  these  men  would  deal  out  to  their  servant, 
and  to  ,  e  poor  inhabitants  whom  they  in  general  looked 
on  as  mtruders.     Sou.ething  like  a  regular  census  of  the 
populafon  wa,  take,,  in  175.3,  but  niuetyseveu  yea,.,  a.„  ■ 
he  „.hab,ta„ts  returned  then  wc-e  13,112-4795  CathoHcs' 
and  8317  Protestants.     The  fi.xed  inhabitants,  however 
we,-e  csfmated  at  only  7500,  the  rest  being  su.nmcr  resi' 
dents,  but  returning  home  eve,-y  winte,-.    The  state  of  the 
pop..I.at,o„  was  miserable  in  the  extreme ;  no  law,  no  see,,- 
m;  the  uucontrollod  will  of  the  ignoi^ant  fishing  ad,ni,.,.ls 
bo.ng  the  only  rule.    Accordingly,  Lc-d  Vere  BeaucW 
who  eon  „„„,  ,  ,,„  „,,.„,  ^^_,^^  ,^^^.^^  ^^  ^  ,^  ,_ 

mont  Of  a  t,tu  ar  govc,™,-,  and  i„  ,709,  Captain  Osborne 
w  s  nom,„ated  a,  the  fl.t  governor.  The  fi.,hing  ad.ni! 
rals,  however,  and  the  merchants  would  not  .asiiv  yield 


18 


up  the  power  tliey  possessed  and  misused,  and  though  tlic 
appointment  of  a  local  governor,  even  for  the  sunnner 
mouths,  was  a  recoguition  of  the  population  of  tlic  island, 
still  ho  found  him  'elf  almost  powerless.     The  only  law 
known  in  the  colony  for  a  long  series  of  years  after  was  the 
proclamation  of  the  governors  ;  and  without  their  sanction, 
until  within  the  recollection  of  many  now  living  in  St. 
Jolin's,  a  house  could  not  be  built  or  even  thoroughly  re- 
paired.    I  should  only  tire  your  patience  by  recounting 
the  tyrannical  acts  of  persecution  embodied  in  the  proc- 
lamations of  tliesc,  ijerhaps  honest,  but  bigoted  men— wc 
therefore  hasten  over  this  dreary  period,  and  come  to  the 
comparatively  ^appy  epoch  of  1784.     On  the  24th  of  Oc- 
tober, tnat  year,  a  proclamation  was  published,  pursuant 
to  tiie  instructions  of  Ilia  Majesty  George  III.,  to  the 
governor,  justice  of  peace,  and  magistrates  of  the  island, 
whereby  liberty  of  conscience  was  allowed  to  all  persons 
in  Newfoundland,  and  the  free  exercise  of  such  modes  of 
religious  worsliip  as  are  not  prohilnted  by  law,  provided 
people  be  contented  with  a  quiet  and  peaceable  enjoyment 
of  the  same,  without  giving  offense  or  scandal  to  govern- 
ment— thus  Catholicity  was  permitted,  and  the  days  of  open 
persecution  were  happily  at  an  end. 

It  may  be  interesting,  especially  to  Catholics,  to  know 
the  state  of  the  Church  here  before  that  time— Pvotestant- 
ism  being  the  established  religion,  m'nisters  were  stationed 
in  the  principal  settlements,  but  the  few  priests  in  the 
island  had  no  fixed  abode— tliey  usually  came  out  dis- 
guised in  the  fishing  vessels,  seldom  staid  long,  and  had  no 
regular  missions,  as  the  surveillance  of  the  Local  Gov- 
ernment -was  too  strict.    In  the  same  year  of  toleration. 


10 

1784,  Dr.  O'DonnclI,  the  foundor  and  fatl.or  of  the  cIimTl, 
of  Newfoundland,  landed  in  the  island.     Born  in  17:57  i„ 
Tipperary,  he  spent  a  !ar<re  portion  of  his  life  in  the  Irish 
Franciscan  Convent  of  Prague  in  Bohen.ia  ;  afte-vvard  as 
superior  of  the   Franciscans,  in    Wate.-ford,   and   subse- 
quently  provincial  of  that  order  in  Ireland.     He  was  the 
first  roguhir  authorized  missioner  in  Ncwfoundlan.I  after 
it  became  a  purely  British  settlement,  and  no  n.an  ever 
had  British  interests  more  at  heart-he  mainly  saved  the 
i-sland  to  the  British  -crown  when  a  mutiny  broke  out 
among  the  troops  under  the  command  of  Col.  Skcrrett 
By  his  influence  among  the  Irish  population  he  prevented 
the  disaffection  from  spreading,  and  saved  the  colony      If 
audi  a  service  had  been  performed  in  those  days  by  one  of 
the  Dominant    Church,  his  reward  would  be  a  pcnrac^c 
and  a  pension  ;  to  Dr.  O'Donnell  the  British  government 
granted,  not  a  peerage,  but  the  munificent  pension  of  ^75 
or  £5{)  (I  am  not  sure  which)  per  annum  for  his  life  ;  how- 
ever, thoy  acted  consistently.     Catholic  loyalty  is  an  affair 
of  conscience,  and,  consequently,  ho  only  gave  to  Caesar 
^vhat  was  due  to  Caesar.     As  long,  however,  as  rewards 
are  given  by  the  nation  to  those  who  do  their  duty,  especi- 
ally when  that  duty  becomes,  through  extraordinary  cir- 
cumstances, a  great  pu'.lic  benefit,  so  long  will  the  stinc^i- 
ness  of  the  government  of  that  day  to  Dr.  O'Donnell  be 
condemned  by  all  right-thinking  men.     Dr.  O'Donnell  was 
at  first  only  prefect  apostolic,  that  is,  a  priest  exercisino- 
episcopal  jurisdiction,  and  generally  having,  like  the  Pre"- 
feet  Apostolic  of  St.  Peter's,  the  right  of  ^-iving  Confirm- 
ation, winch,  as  we  see  by  the  practice  of  the  Greek  Cath- 
olic Church,  is  not  essentially  an  episcopal  sacrament,  if  I 


20 


may  call  it  so.     The  importanco  of  tlio  population  now 
rcipiirctl  episcopal  superintoiRlcncc.     The  Sovercif^n  Pon- 
tilT,  to  whom  is  committed  the  care  of  all  churciies,  saw 
that  Newfoundland  was  destined  to  become  the  home  of  a 
fixed  population,  r.ot  the  sununer  residence  of  a  lloatinj^ 
one.     Accordingly,  in  1796,  on  the  5th  of  January,  the 
great  PontilV,  Vim  VI.,  the  Confessor  as  well  &»  Doctor  of 
the  Faith,  appointed  Dr.  O'Donncll  Vicar  Apostolic  of 
Newfoundland,  and  Bishop  of  Thyatira  in  partibus,  and  he 
wa?  consecrated  in  Quebec  on  the  21gt  of  September  the 
same  year.     Thus  was  the   foundation  of  the   Catl-olio 
Church  solidly  laid,  and  we  hope  forever.     The  state  of 
morality  is  described  at  that  time  as  -•  cry  bad  indeed,  and 
this  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.    Thn  popidation  was,  I  may 
say,  a  floating  one,  with  no  family  ties  and  no  roli-iious 
ministration  previous  to  Dr.  O'Don. .ell's  arrival,  uidcss 
the  casual  visit  of  a  priest  from  home.     Money  was  abund- 
ant and  liquor  cheap  ;  education  there  was  none,  and  few 
even  to  avail  themselves  of  it  if  there  had  been.     Tiioso 
who  made  money  in  the  country,  Avcnt  to  spend  it  else- 
where, and  it  is  most  disgraceful  to  reflect  that,  though 
colossal  fortunes  have  been  made  in  the  island,  not  a  col- 
lege, an  hospital,  a  school,  an  alms-liouso,  was  ever  estab- 
lished by  any  one  of  those  persons  wdio  drained  the  wealth 
of  the  land.     Catholic  or  Protestant,  it  v.as  all  alike,  as 
soon  as  a  fortune  was  made,  they  went  home,  Avhcrc  it  was 
frequently  soon  squandered  by  their  children,  and  in  the 
third  generation  no  trace  of  it  remained  ;  but  in  New- 
foundland they  left  nothing  after  them.    It  was  only  slow- 
ly, therefore,  that  population  increased,  and  were  it  not 
for  the  appointment  of  Dr.  O'Donnell,  as  bishop,  and  the 


21 


cor  a.nfy.  tl.crofor..  tl.at  religion  was  porn.ancnilv  f.xcd 
m  the  ..slan.l,  the  Irish  settlers,  who  forn.ea  the  bulk  of  tho 
populafon  of  St.  John's  u„,I  the  south  of  tho  islan.l,  would 
not  have  renmined  here.     Wo  have  rather  un  interestiu. 
proof  of  this  ia  a  letter  written  by  Governor  Milbank  to 
Dr.  0  Donnell  before  his  consecration  as  bishop,  in  answer 
to  an  rpplication  made  by  him  to  Jlis  Kxeellency  for  leave 
to  build  a  chapel  in  one  of  tho  out-ports.     Here  is  the  doc- 
ument, and  written,  mark  you,  six  years  after  the  proc- 
lamation of  freedom  of  rcli^n'ous  worship  :  "  The  (Jovcrnor 
acquaints  Mr.  O'Donnell  that,  so  far  from  being  disposed 
to  allow  of  an  increase  of  places  of  religions  worship  for 
the  Koman   Catholics  of  tho  island,  he  very  seriously  in- 
tends,  next  year,  to  lay  those  established  already,  under 
particular  restrictions.     Mr.  O'Donnell  must  be  aware  that 
It  IS  not  tho  interest  of  Great  Britain  to  encourage  people 
to  winter  in  Newfoundland,  and  ho  can  not  be  ignorant 
that  many  of  the  lower  order  who  would  now  stay,  wo.ld, 
If  It  were  not  for  the  convenience  Avith  which  they  obtain 
abolntion  here,  go  homo  for  it  at  least  onco  in  two  or 
three  years,  and  the  governor  has  been  misinformed  if  Mr 
O'Donnell,  instead  of  advising  tl.eir  return  to  Ireland,  does 
not  rather  encourage  them  to  winter  in  this  countrv.     On 
board  the  Salisbury,  St.  John's.    Nov.  2,  1790."'    Such 
was  the  state  of  things  exactly  seventy  years  ago ;  what  a 
contrast  our  governors  then  presented  to  our  esteemed  Sir 
A.  Bannerman  ;  or  to  the  late  administrator,  Hon.  L. 
O'Brien,  who  so  far  from  wishing  to  lay  restrictions  on 
places  of  worship  for  Catholics,  a  Catholic  himself,  sub- 
scribes  most  liberally  for  their  erection-witness  his  dona- 
tion of  £100  to  the  new  church  in  Torbay.     Thank  God, 


I 


I 


M 


22 


those  times  are  past,  and  now  we  have  perfect  civil  and 
religious  liberty  ;  and  I  may  say,  speaking  of  the  Protest- 
ant population,  not  in  the  French  sense,  equality  and  fra- 
ternity.    Let  no  one  blame  Newfoundland,  then,  for  not 
having  hitherto  advanced  as  rapidly  as  other  colonies.    I 
boldly  assert  tiiat  never  was  more  energy  shown  by  any 
people  than  by  the  inhabitants  of  this  island.    The  gov- 
ernment that  should  foster  them,  considered  them  intruders, 
and  banished  them  when  it  could.    They  were  exposed  to 
all  the  petty  tyranny  of  ignorant  fishing  admirals,  and  of 
governors  who  proved  their  devotion  to  England  by  de- 
populating Newfoundland.     They  had  not  the  liberty  of 
the  birds  of  the  air  to  build  or  repair  their  nesta — they 
had  behind  them  the  forest  or  the  rocky  soil,  wliicli  they 
were  not  allowed,  without  license  difficultlv  obtained,  to 
reclaim  and  till.     Their  only  resource  was  the  stormy 
ocean,  and  they  saw  the  wealth  they  won  from  the  deep 
spent  in  other  lands,  leaving  them  only  a  scanty  subsist- 
ence.    Despite  of  all  this  they  have  increased  twenty-fold 
in  ninety  years,  have  built  towns  and  villages,  erected 
magnificent  buildings,  as  the  catliedral  in  St.  John's,  intro- 
duced telegraphs,  steam,  postal,  and  road  communications, 
newspapers,  every  thing,  in  fact,  found  in  the  most  civilized 
countries,  and  all  this  on  a  rugged  soil,  in  a  harsh,  though 
wholesome  climate,  and  under  every  specie   of  discourage- 
ment.    We  owe  a  great  debt  of  gratitude  to  those  who 
have  gone  before  us,  and  by  their  energy,  prepared  happy 
homes  in  the  stormy  wilderness  of  Newfoundland,  despite 
the  frowns  of  man  and  nature,  for  the  present  generation. 
Our  task  is  comparatively  easy,  we  run  on  the  smooth 
track,  but  they  were  the  pioneers.    The  administration  of 


23 

justice  has  boon  rogardod  in  all  communitios  as  a  n>atter 
of  the  most  vital  importance,  but,  like  every  thing  else  in 
Newfoundland,  was  most  scandalously  conducted  ])v  fi.h- 
■     ing  admirals,  arbitrary  governors,  magistrates  without  ed- 
ucation, and  surrogates,  until  after  a  great  deal  of  opposi- 
tion and  delay,  tlie  Supreme  Court  was  finally  organized 
m  1792,  and  Mr.  Reeves  appointed  Chief  Justice      Thus 
another  great  boon  was  won  for  xYewfoundland,  and  the 
subject  could  always  obtain  a  regular  hearing  of  his  cause 
and  legal  decision.     Mr.  Reeves  appears  to  have  been  a 
gentleman  well  qualified  for  his  station,  and  it  was  a  Her 
culean  task  to  clear  away  abuses  and  abolish  practices 
winch  existed  for  ages.     In  1807,  another  step  in  advance 
was  made  by  the  introduction  o^  the  press.    In  August  that 
year  the  first  newspaper  in  the  colony,  the  iJ.^a/  Gazette 
and  JYeufoundland  Advertiser,  was  published,  and  two  years 
after,^  in  1809,  a  post-office  was  first  established  in  St 
John  s.    Thus,  by  degrees,  were  improvements  slowly  intro- 
duced, and  the  English  government  tacitlv  recognised  the 
population  of  Newfoundland  as  having  bright  to  li  e  in 
the  land  they  had  chosen.    In  the  mean  time,  Dr.  O'Don- 
nell  was  laboring  in  his  arduous  mission-he  had  obtained 
leave  from  the  Local  Government  to  take  a  piece  of  land 
ata  eascofuincty-nine  years,  and  begun  the  old  chapel 
winch  was  very  small  at  first.     He  made  several  visita- 
tions to  the  out-ports  of  the  island,  encouraging,  as  far  as 
lie  could,  education ;    we   believe  he  was  guilty  of  the 
charge  mad.  against  him  by  Governor  Milbank,  of  encour- 
ag.ng  the  Iri«h  to  winter  in  the  country,  and  we  feel  no 
doubt  but  that  he  gave  them  absolution  when  they  applied 
for  It,  and  even  more  n-equently  than  every  «ccond  or  third 


24 


■ 


year,  as  accused  by  the  wortliy  governor.     Durin<;  Dr. 
O'Donncll's  episcopacy,  the  population  was  almost  Irish. 
English,  or  Scotch.    The  Catiiolic  district  of  St.  John's, 
for  it  could  not  be  called  a  parish,  comprised  the  south 
shore  of  Conception  Bay,  and  the  south  shore  as  far  as  La 
Manche  toward  Ferryland,  and  still  the  marriages  were, 
on  an  average,  only  about  seventeen  or  eighteen  a  year 
among  the  Catholic  population— now  the  average  of  the 
same  district  gives  about  two  hundred  and  sixty  marriages. 
Both  Protestants  and  Catholics  complained  at  that  time 
of  the  spread  of  infidel  opinions  in  this  country.     "  Paine's 
Age  of  Reason,"  denying  all  revelation,  was  very  extens- 
ively read,  trade  was  most  flourishing,  money  abundant, 
and  vice  of  all  kinds  prevalent.     Protestant  ministers  in 
the  principal  towns,  St.  John's,  Harbor,  Grace,  Trinity,  and 
Ferryland,  took  charge  of  their  own  people  ;  priests  were 
stationed  wherever  there  was  adequate  support  for  them, 
when  the  bishop  could  procure  their  services.    The  Prot- 
estant clergy  combated  infidelity,  principally  by  means 
,  of  the  publications  of  tlie  Tract  Society,  but  the  Catholic 
always  trusts  more  to  the  living  word  than  to  the  dead 
letter.    The  mission  was  a  laborious  and  rude  one,  and, 
accordingly.  Dr.  O'Donnell,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his 
age,  resigned  his  charge  to  younger  hands,  in  the  person  of 
Dr.  Lambert,  and  sought  repose  in  his  native  land,  where 
he  died  four  years  afterward,  and  was  buried  in  the  old 
parish  chapel  of  Clonrael— he  had  fought  tiie  good  fight 
in  days  of  darkness,  of  danger,  and  of  difficulty,  and  we 
hope  he  received  the  crown  of  justice.    Having  now  given 
a  rapid  sketch  of  our  scanty  history  from  what  we  may 
call  the  fabulous  times,  until  the  death  of  the  founder  of  the 


25 

Catholic  Church  in  the  country,  I  pause  to  make  a  few  re- 
flections which,  in  a  Catholic  college,  and  addressing  a 
Catholic  audience,  the  majority  of  whom  look  to  Ireland 
with  affection,  as  the  land  of  their  forefothers,  may  be  inter- 
esting.    History,  as  well  as  faith,  teaches  us  that  n.an  can 
do  nothing  of  himself,  that  human  power,  energy,  talents 
or  wealth  are  of  no  avail,  unless  God  wills  that  a  thino^ 
should  come  to  pass.    "  Unless  the  Lord  buildeth  the 
liouse,  m  vain  do  they  labor,"  the  psalmist  says,   "  who 
build  it."    The  history  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  New- 
foundland  most  strikingly  shows  this.    Twice  under  the 
most  favorable  auspices  was  the  Catholic  Church  planted 
in  this  island-twice  it  failed  to  take  root.    Sir  George 
Calvert,  in  Ferryland,  intended  this  country,  and  particu- 
larly in  this  province  of  Avalon,  to  bo  a  city  of  refu-e  to 
Ins  coreligionists-what  the  Puritans  did  in  New  England 
l>e  intended,  though  with  more  enlightened  and  Christian 
sentiments,  to  accomplish  in  Newfoundland.     The  Catholic 
glories  of  ancient  Yerulam  were  to  be  renewed  Vrvo  and 
the  ancient  British  faith  of  Avalon  and  Glastonbury  was  to 
flourish  with  renewed  vigor-all  ended  in  disappointment, 
and  the  English  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church  never  took 
i-oot.     The  most  powerful  monarch  of  Europe,  Louis  XIV 
justly  called  Louis  the  Grand,  established,  as  he  thouo-ht' 
Ca.fiolicity  firmly  in  Placentia-founded   a  convent%f 
Franciscans,  the  apostles  of  the  New  World,  and  laid,  as 
he  imagined,  the  foundations  of  our  faith,  broad  and  diep. 
Again  a  failure-tho  lily  of  France  never  throve  on  the 
soil,  and  with  the  departure  of  the  last  French  governor 
the  Catholic  faith  died  away.    The  very  churches  were 
transferred  to  the  professors  of  another  creed.    Well,  the 


26 


Irish  laborers  came  out  to  earn  a  subsistence  by  braving 
the  dangers  of  the  ocean  ;  they  were  not  of  the  class  of 
men  who  generally  succeeded  in  establishing  a  church. 
Their  faith,  bitterly  persecuted  in  their  own  country,  was 
strictly  prohibited  in  Newfoundland — the  house  where 
Mass  was  said  was  burned  down  by  orders  of  the  govern- 
ment— they  had  not  wealth,  nor  education,  nor  any  of  those 
human  gifts  which  would  give  them  influence  in  the  land  ; 
still  the  hidden  seed  germinated,  liberty  of  conscience  was 
granted,  they  were  grudgingly  allowed  to  raise  an  humble 
wooden  chapel  here  and  there — the  successor  of  St.  Peter 
looks  to  this  impoverished  portion  of  his  flock  and  gives 
them  a  pastor  in  the  person  of  Dr.  O'Donnell — the  weakly 
plant,  trampled  on,  cut  down  whenever  it  showed  itself, 
now  begins  to  throw  out  vigorous  shoots,  and  we  sec  at 
present,  thank  God,  that  it  flourishes  like  a  tree  planted 
by  +he  running  water.  This  is  the  work  of  God  (mind,  of 
God  alone),  and  it  is  wonderful  in  our  eyes.  Calvert 
failed.  Louis  failed,  but  the  poor  persecuted  Irish  fisher- 
men succeeded,  and  the  proud  monument  of  his  or  his  chil- 
dren's faith— the  Cathedral — crowns  the  culminating  point 
of  the  capital  of  the  island.  I  fear  I  might  tire  you  by 
continuing  these  dry  details  any  longer.  On  this  day  week, 
please  God,  the  present  state  and  future  development  of 
our  country  will  be  the  subject  cf  the  lecture.  I  thank  you 
most  cordially  for  the  attention  you  have  given,  and  if  I 
have  succeeded  in  making  you  in  any  way  better  acquaint- 
ed with  the  by-gone  times  of  the  land  we  live  in,  and  ex- 
citing in  the  generous  young  hearts  I  sec  around  me  an 
enlightened  love  of  their  native  land,  I  am  more  than  am- 
ply repaid.     I  considered  it  necessary  to  give  this  prcpar- 


27 

atory  lecture  as  an  introduction  to  ilie  descriptive  one  I 
shall  liave  the  honor  of  giving  this  day  week.     As  I  have 
rapidly  sketched  the  history  of  the  country  from  the  ear- 
liest  records  I  could  find  down  to  the  period  witliin  the 
memory  of  thousands  in  St.  Joiin's,  I  will  principally  con- 
fine myself  in  the  next  lecture  to  the  physical  description 
of  the  country,  its  capabilities  for  the  support  of  a  large 
population;  and  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  best  means  of 
developing  them.    Newfoundland  has  more  claims  on  us 
than  any  other  part  of  the  world.    If  it  is  not  the  native 
country  of  most  of  you,  it  is  the  native  country  of  your 
children,  and  1  am  sure  that  every  one  who  has  adopted 
the  country  as  his  home,  and  es^.ecially  those  wJio  have 
brought  up  a  fomily  in  it,  loves  it  with  a  sincere,  though 
not  perhaps  as  tender  an  affection  as  if  it  were  the  land  of 
his  birtii.     If  the  ashes  of  his  ancestors  repose  in  the  old 
land  and  his  cradle  was  rocked  thero-his  tomb  will  be 
here,  and  his  children  here  will  venerate  and  hallow  his 
memory.     Again  thanking  you  for  your  attention,  I  remain, 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  an  ardent  friend  of  the  land  we  live 
in— Newfoundland. 


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SECOND  LECTURE. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen,-!  have,  in  my  last  introauc- 
tory  lecture,  sketched  the  outlines  of  our  scanty  history  as 
for  as  I  could  find  materials,  for  our  records  arc  only  those 
of  an  infant  people,  few  and  uninteresting  to  any  one  Lut 
ourselves  and  posterity.     I  need  not  recount  the  recent 
facts  in  the  recollection  of  most  of  us,  they  are  most  im- 
portant for  the  future  historian  of  the  country,  but  for  us 
they  are  matters  of  recollection,  not  of  record-I  allude 
to  the  introduction  of  Representative   Government  first, 
and  recently  of  that  more  perfect  form  of  representative 
institutions  called  Responsible  Government ;  the  nomina- 
tion of  Dr.  Lambert  as  successor  to  Dr.  O'Donnoll,  of  Dr. 
Scallan,  whom  so  many  of  you  have  known,  of  my  immedi- 
ate venerated  predecessor,  Dr.  Fleming,  all  three  of  tlio 
same  institute  as  Dr.  O'Donnell.    I  will  not  speak  of  the 
foundation  of  the  Cathedral,  of  the  establishment  of  a 
Protestant  bishoprick  in  the  island  by  Iler  Majesty  Queen 
Victoria,  or  of  a  second  Catliolic  bishoprick  in  Harbor 
Grace-all  these  .natters  are  of  too  recent  a  date,  and 
tlierefore  I  will  pass  at  once  to  the  physical  description  of 
the  country,  its  climate,  its  capabilities,  its  future  pros- 
pects.    With  politics  or  parties,  I  have  nothing  to  do,  and 
if  I  make  any  suggestions  for  what  appears  to  me  to  be 


80 


tlio  iniprovcrncnt  of  the  country,  I  hope  all  will  esteem 
them  as  dictated  solely  by  a  love  of  Newfoundland  and 
its  peoi)lo.  The  island  of  Newfoundland,  as  you  may  per- 
ceive by  the  map,  is  the  greatest  in  North  America,  nearly 
four  hundred  miles  long  from  Cape  Ray  (Raye)  or  Split 
Cape,  as  called  by  the  French,  from  its  appearance  at  sea, 
to  Quirpon  on  the  northeast,  and  about  three  hundred 
miles  wide  from  Cape  Race  (Ra/e)  on  t!ic  east  coast  again 
to  Cape  Ray  on  the  west.  It  contains,  it  is  calculated, 
about  35,000  square  miles,  or  22,720,000  acres.  This, 
however,  is  only  an  approximate  calculation,  as  the  country 
has  not  been  exi>lored,  much  less  surveyed.  It  is  of  a  tri- 
angular form,  very  narrow  toward  the  north,  hence  called 
by  the  French  "Petit  Nord,"  very  wide  at  the  southern 
base,  and  having  attached  to  it,  as  it  were,  the  great  pen- 
insula of  Avalon,  separated  from  the  great  island  by  the 
Bays  of  Placentia  and  Trinity,  and  joined  to  it  by  an 
isthmus  of  only  two  or  three  miles,  and  this  province  is 
again  divided  by  the  two  noble  bays  of  St.  Mary's  and 
Conception.  In  no  other  part  of  the  world  are  there 
more  noble  bays  and  harbors  than  in  Newfoundland. 
Eighty  and  ninety  miles  the  ocean  penetrates  by  those 
great  arms  into  the  land,  conveying  to  the  doors  of  its  in- 
habitants the  treasures  of  the  deep,  and  affording  them  a 
cheap  means  of  couA^eying  their  produce  to  market,  such 
as  a  hundred  millions  spent  in  railways  could  not  procure. 
It  is  most  providential  that  every  thing  required  to  carry 
out  the  great  industry  of  liie  country,  the  Fisiiery,  is  found 
here  better  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world— the  bays 
and  harbors,  the  vicinity  of  the  ^reat  breeding  grounds, 
the  abundonce  of  wood  adapted  fr r  boat-building,  cooper- 


81 

age,  flakes,  and  stages,  the  bracing  winds  and  absence  of  a 
burning   sun   for   drying,  -the   rocky   ledges    the   fcedin^r 
ground  of  the  cod,  and  above  all,  the  Imrdy  darin.^  son^s 
of  the  soil,  men  nurtured  in  danger,  rocked  in  the  tempest 
men  to  whom  the  severest  hardships  arc  only  sport,  who 
know  no  danger,  who  tread  the  frozen  ocean  with  as  firm 
a  step  as  their  native  soil,  and  yearly  undergo  without  a 
murmur  more  danger  than  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  the 
most  daring  through  their  entire  lives.     You  perceive  that 
the  capital,  St.  John's,  is  placed  almost  in  the  centre  of 
the  great  peninsula  of  Avalon,  on  the  nearest  point  to 
Europe,  with  a  port  the  most  secure  perhaps  in  the  world 
fortified  by  nature  and  only  requiring  a  very  moderate 
outlay,  and  a  few  thousand  brave  soldiers  to  make  it,  I 
may  say,  impregnable-the  Gibraltar  or  Sebastopol  of  tlie 
North  Atlantic.     A  fleet  of  war  steamers  stationed  in  St. 
John's,  sheltered  !  y  the  guns  of  Signal  Hill  and  South-side 
l)attenes  would  give  the  command  of  the  North  Atlantic 
to  Groat  Britain,  and,  with  Bermuda,  paralvze  the  com- 
merce of  the  entire  sea-board  of  the  neighboring  continent 
I  consider  St.  John's  and  Bermuda  as  the  two  great  bas- 
tions of  North  America,  but  I  leave  the  subject  to  be  dis- 
cussed by  military  men.     It  has  been  said  that  the  trident 
of  Neptune  is  the  sceptre  of  the  world,  and  unless  some 
extraordinary  change  takes  place  in  naval  afi^airs,  like  the 
introduction  of  gunpowder  into  modern  warfare,  the  say- 
ing has  hitherto  held  and  will  hold  good.    See  tlie  im- 
mense importance  of  Newfoundland  :    between   French, 
•English,  and  Americans  there  arc  now,  I  suppose,  from 
50,000  to  70,000  men  employed  in  the  Fisheries,  amid  ice, 
%,  and  storm.    If  tlie  Fislicries  were  fully  developed,  as 


82 


tlicy  will  he  in  future  times  when  the  population  incroasca 
and  extends  all  along  t^  c  shores  and  into  the  interior,  this 
number  will  be  doubled.  The  gulf  and  river  of  St.  Law- 
rence depend  altogether  on  Newfoundland — the  possessor 
of  this  country  holds  the  keys  of  the  gulf.  The  Labrador, 
which  will  in  time  become  a  country  like  Norway,  will 
pwcll  the  contingent  of  seamen.  The  Fisheries  then  Avill 
not  be  confined  to  the  shores,  but  our  mariners  will  each 
summer  explore  the  recesses  of  Baffin's  and  Hudson's  Bays, 
and  probably  follow  the  seal  to  Greenland.  Now,  a  mari- 
time po})ulation  like  this  must  have  a  great  influence  in  the 
affairs  of  tlie  world  hereafter,  and  hold  a  place  of  the 
highest  importance  among  the  hundreds  of  millions  who  in 
two  or  three  centuries  hence  will  people  those  northern 
lands  from  the  frontiers  cf  Mexico  to  the  shores  of  Hud- 
son's Bay.  This,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  not  a  sketch  of 
imagination,  for  as  sure  as  the  rivulet  swells  to  a  mighty 
river  in  its  course  and  bears  tlic  fleets  of  nations,  so  sure, 
according  to  the  laws  of  nature,  will  the  wonderful  devel- 
opment of  these  countries  take  place.  Wars  or  pestilence 
may  check  it  for  a  time,  but  nothing  will  stop  it.  The 
island,  as  "ou  see,  is  trending,  if  I  may  use  the  expression, 
northeast  and  soutliwest.  All  our  great  bays,  witli  the 
remarkable  exception  of  the  Bay  of  Islands,  Bonne  Bay, 
and  Ligornachoix  Bay,  on  the  western  or  gulf  side,  follow 
the  same  direction  as  do  the  mountain  ridges  and  the  great 
lakes  which  fill  up  the  valleys  of  the  interior.  It  would 
appear  as  if  the  whole  island  was  in  a  fluid  state  when  the 
hills  and  mountains  took  this  direction.  The  country  is 
for  the  most  part,  geologically  speaking,  of  primitive  form- 
ation, granite,  slate,  old  red  sandstone,  indeed  I  may  dc- 


38 

scribo  it  as  a  groat  skeleto,,  poorly  furnished  wi.I,  flch 
Wo  have  ■„  the  uoighborLood  of  Concop.io,,  n'ilt 
ua.b.o  quarrio,  of  .i„„i.„  „,.  „,  g,,„„.^„''_    ^,_^  ^  -- 
the  Presentation  Convent  is  builf  nP  i^  •  " 

t..o..ghitba,„otboo„,„ar-e::b:;o;  ir:^^^ 

bo.    or,  o„  t„o  .rfaeo.  it  is  i^perisl.aMo.    m"  t^^^ 
ocahly  1  have  soon  on  tl,c  road  and  in  the  garden  fonol 

—  :,f  tritir?'^'  r-  "■  "- 

--;ponino     Ctr?.:rtllCL^ 

and  tho  high  poiish  Of  .ho  .ariogatod  „,:  I,     t,"  T 
woen  tins  and  Holyrood,  at  tho  head  of  Concopr„  IW 

and  palaoos  of  tho  world.    It  will,  howovor,  bo  lonl  be 

^^aco.if.onghtL^::,r— ---^^ 

»  ur  .n,„od,ate  neighborhood.  Ti.at  ™o3t  nsoL  :  e 
■  "I.  l.mo,  ,s  mo.t  abundant  in  the  north  and  northwest  •  t  ,o 
sboro  about  Forroll,  in  the  Straits  of  Bdlisle  iln       ! 

entireiyeo,nposod„fit,iti3p,entif„,TrCa3 
Bay,  and  lately  deposit  have  boon  found  i„  n,a„y  ott 

P.^ces-I  reeently  saw  a  quarry  in  the  harbor  of  bL  n   „ 
be  s,  0  of  a  oliff.    Cod  Roy  wonid  furnish  plaster  o^, 
or    II  tho  purposes  of  building  and  agrionltnre,  and    n 
of  the  most  beautiful  sea  vio.s  I  know  of  is  the  painted 
plaster  cliffs  near  Cod  Ror     I-  fl     t>       r  -      ^ 

^ou  noy.    i„  the  Bay  of  Kjploits,  re- 


I 


84 


markablc  for  its  fine  timber  and  scenery,  fine-grained  red 
sandstone,  a  beautiful  material  for  building,  is  found  ;  'tis 
said  that  good  white  marble  is  got  in  the  Huniber  River  ; 
coal  is  said  (and  though  I  have  not  seen  it,  I  have  good 
reason  to  believe  it)  to  exist  in  the  upper  part  of  Cod  Roy 
River.  The  coarse  building  stone  of  St.  John's  is  a  fine 
material  for  rough  work,  and  the  Cathedral  shows  wliat 
can  be  don(  with  the  fine  sandstone  of  Kelly's  Island. 

The  miiicral  resources  of  the  country  have  not  been,  as 
yet,  turned  to  much  account.  Rich  copper  ore  is  found  in 
many  places  in  Conception  Bay,  Placentia  Bay,  and  White 
Bay.  If  the  country  were  explored  and  capital  invested 
in  mining,  under  judicious  management,  there  is  no  doubt 
but  that  the  enterprise  would  be  a  great  source  of  wealth 
for  centuries,  perhaps  as  great  as  the  Fishery  is  at  present ; 
but  when  wo  consider  that  only  a  small  portion  of  the 
country  has  been  hitherto  explored,  and  only  on  the  sea- 
coast,  that  whatever  mining  operations  have  been  under- 
taken, except  at  Lz.  Manche,  have  been  of  the  most  super- 
ficial character,  merely,  I  may  say,  surface  works,  and  that 
it  was  only  very  recently  that  any  attention  at  all  has  been 
paid  to  mining,  the  sea  being  naturally  considered  by  a 
maritime  and  fishing  population  as  the  only  mine  worth 
exploring — a  mine  richer,  in  reality,  than  all  the  silver 
mines  '"f  Mexico,  producing  millions  for  the  last  three  cen- 
turies, and  inexhaustible,  we  ought  to  rest  satisfied  with 
what  has  been  done  as  an  earnest  of  what  will  be  done 
hereafter.  I  regret,  indeed,  that  the  lead  mine  of  La 
Manche  has  been,  not  abandoned,  but  the  Avork  suspended 
for  a  time,  I  heard  from  Mr.  Crocket,  one  of  the  superintend- 
ents there,  two  years  ago,  that  there  was  then  as  much  lead 


B5 

.n^covo,.cd  as  „  .,„„.„a  „e„  e„„,„  „ot  .o„.„vo  i„  twenty 
car,.    -,„«,,,,,„„  ,,t„  „,^.^^,f  .^  appeared a„acoou„. able 

lM.t  I  hope,  ,„  tl,o  spring,  operations  will  be  eonnnen    a 
new  „„    s,,el,  a  souree  of  wealti,  not  allowed  to  lie  I,,' 

Miver  IS  found  in  several  of  thr*  i^^,t 

BcvLnu  01  tlic  lead  specimens  I  Unvn 

0  0.  and  I  have  ,ec„  ,„i„„to  threads  of  native  silver  io 
ones  taken  from  a  well  d„,  i„  the  neighborhood  of  t 
Io.p,  al  of  St.  John's.    Tin.e  will  tell  whether,  like 
U»on,a„  M,ne,  sung  ly  Moore,  these  iadicationsaro  o  l" 
,-ngIed  over  the  surface,  bnt  I  have  not  the  least  doubl 
hat  eopper  and  lead  are  n,ost  abundant,  and  will  hereafter 
bo  an  enormous  sonreo  of  wealth  to  the  eonnfry.    Ofna- 
U>e  gold   though  the  most  generally  distributed  of  ail 
raotals,  I  have  not  seen  a  speeiu,en  but  one,  with  some  mi- 
croseop,c  partieles  glistening  1„  the  quartz;  the  person 
-i.o  had    t  told  me  he  would  eall  again  and  tell  m    t  „ 
■oeal.ty  of  his  discovery,  but  never  did  so.    It  would  be   ' 
easy  to  try  by  amalgamation  whether  the  spangles  were 
gold  or  not.    The  gold  matrix,  as  described  by  Humboldt 
and  others,  eerta.nly  exists,  but  the  attention  of  the  people 
has  never  been  called  to  it.    It  is  remarkable,  that  tl.e 
fehe  men  n>  the  lower  part  of  Placeutia  Bay  used  to  go  to 
La  Maneue,  take  the  pure  galena,  smelt  it,  and  run  iir„ers 
out  of  .t  and  still  the  existence  of  the  mine,  though  ataost 
every  pebble  on  the  shore  had  specks  of  lead  in  it,  was 
either  unknown  or  disregarded.    This  shows  how  much 
je  require  that  the  country  should  be  explored  by  compe- 
tont  persons.    Since  the  discovery,  three  or  four  years  a.o 
■    '    "''"'^'  i**"""""  0'  load  have  been  shipped  off. 


I 


3G 


I 


Once,  while  I  was  there,  sixty-five  tor^,  valued  at  X15  a 
ton,  was  shipped  off,  and  another  time  I  saw  several,  per- 
haps one  Imndred,  tons  of  dressed  ore  in  barrels,  prepared 
for  exportation  ;  and  still  so  little  knowledge  did  the  peo- 
ple possess  of  the  treasure  existing  in  their  midst,  that  for 
generations  the  only  use  made  of  it  was  to  dig  out  a  bit 
to  make  a  jigger.    Before  I  speak  of  the  great  industry  of 
the  country,  the  Fisheries,  and  of  our  limited  agriculture, 
and  its  future  development,  I  have  a  few  words  to  say  of 
the  climate.     Climates  in  all  countries,  though  principally 
depending  on  the  distance  from  the  equator,  are  still  gov- 
erned by  other  laws— elevation,  direction  of  prevailing 
winds,  but  above  all,  by  the  currents  of  the  ocean,  and  the 
proximity  of  the  country  to  those  marine  influences.     Con- 
fining myself  at  present  to  Newfoundland,  wo  find  St. 
John's  in  47.30  north  latitude  ;  well,  this  same  parallel  in- 
tersects some  of  the  finest  wine-growing  districts  in  France. 
Ireland,  the  Emerald  Isle,  is  clothed  with  perpetual  verdnrC; 
and  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  while  the  corresponding 
rco-iou  in  Labrador  is  bound  in  the  icy  chains  of  almost 
perennial  frost.    The  Gulf  Stream,  that  great  oceanic  cur- 
rent, is  the  cause  of  the  warmth  of  one  region,  and  tho 
great  northern  current,  together  with  the  diurnal  revolu- 
tion of  the  earth,  of  the  cold  of  the  other.    You  perceive 
that  Cape  St.  Roquc,  on  the  Brazil  coast,  as  I  mark  it  for 
you,  approaches  so  nGuv  to  the  African  continent  as  to  form 
a  great  basin,  widening  out  to  the  north  of  the  equator. 
Now,  the  almost  vertical  mn  heats  to  an  enormous  degree 
this  Immense  basin  or  cauldron  of  water  in  the  Atlantic. 
All  water  heated  increases  in  bulk,  as  every  housewife 
knows  who  places  a  kettle  too  full  on  the  fire  ;  the  water, 


37 


when  heated,  begins  to  flow  over  ;  msv  the  very  same  thine, 
happens  to  the  enormous  cauldron  of  hot  water  between 
Africa  and  Brazil,  the  water  so  highly  heated  flows  over 
toward   the  north ;   it   enters  into  the   Gulf  of  Mexico, 
heated  to  the  highest  pitch,  seeks  its  exit  through  the  nar- 
row passage  round  Cuba  and  through  tlie  West  India 
Islands,  and,  following  the  direction  it  gets  from  the  set  of 
the  coast  and  the  diurnal  motion  of  the  earth,  it  flows  on. 
widening  out  like  a  fan  every  mile  it  travels,  till  it  reaches 
the  shores  of  Europe,  envelops  Ireland  in  its  tepid  em- 
braces, bathes  tlie  coasts  of  Franco,  passes  round  England, 
and  washes  the  shores  of  Belgium,  Holland,  Germanj^evon 
in  Norway  prevents  the  harbors  from  freezing,  and  en- 
ables the  Laplander  to  ripen  barley  under  the  Arctic  Cir- 
cle.   But  why  does  it  not  go  directly  north  and  bathe  the 
shores  of  Newfoundland  ?     One  great  cause  is  the  diurnal 
movement  of  the  earth.     If  it  were  possible  to  fire  an  Arm- 
strong gun,  for  example,  from  the  equator  to  the  pole  at 
the  source  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  the  bullet  would  not,  as  we 
imagine,  go  straight,  it  would  tend  every  instant  to  the 
riglit,  describing  a  curve,  and  strike  somewhere  about  the 
coast  of  Ireland.     It  is  a  curious  fact  that  a  railway  train, 
going  at  a  high  velocity  due  north  and  south,  always  ex- 
hibits a  strange  tendency  to  fly  off  at  the  right  hand.     I  beg 
you  to  remember  this,  for  here  is  the  secret  of  the  climate  in 
a  great  measure.     The  Gulf  Stream,  going  north,  curves 
off  to  tlic  right  hand,  strikes  the  shores  of  Europe,  rushes 
on  to  the  great  polar  basin,  the  region  of  perpetual  frost  ; 
cooled  there,  the  great  basin  overflows  and  sends  down  the' 
gelid  or  arctic  current  to  fill  up  the  place  in  tlie  equato- 
rial seas  left  vacant  by  the  overflow  of  the  Gulf  Stream, 


88 


which,  I  may  remark,  distributes  daily  as  much  heat  in  its 
course  as  would  melt  thousands  of  tons  of  iron  if  concen- 
trated. The  cold  current  then  rushes  down  by  Baffin's  and 
Hudson's  Bays,  and,  as  I  remarked,  on  account  of  the  diurn- 
al movement  of  the  earth  coming  from  the  north,  tends  to 
the  right  hand,  consequently  hugs  the  American  shore, 
bringing  with  it  tlie  floating  ice  and  the  cold  winds  of  the 
polar  basin.  Thus  we  >  ee  the  huge  icebergs  sailing  majes- 
tically along  the  shores  of  Labrador  and  Newfoundland, 
resting  on  the  ledges,  and  going  forth  again  till  they  meet 
the  Gulf  Stream,  and  are  finally  melted  in  its  tepid  waters. 
The  European  coasts  are,  therefore,  warmed  by  the  hot 
water  of  the  equatorial  basin,  sent  to  them  by  the  Gulf 
Stream.  Newfoundland  and  the  North  America  shores  are 
cooled  by  the  cold  water  of  the  polar  basin,  coming  from 
the  north,  and  consequently  having  a  continual  tendency 
to  hug  the  right  or  American  shore.  Let  no  one  say,  how- 
ever, that  Providence  has  not  given  a  compensation  for 
every  thing ;  the  abundant  pastures  of  Ireland  are  com- 
pensated by  rich  sea  pastures  of  Newfoundland.  The  cod- 
fish, the  great  sovrce  of  our  wealth,  would  not  flourish 
among  us  if  we  had  the  hot  and  vapory  waters  of  the  Gulf 
Stream  bathing  our  shores.  The  painted  fishes,  which  in- 
habit the  tropical  and  warm  seas,  have  no  flavor,  can  not 
be  preserved  and  never  would  form  an  article  of  commerce 
like  our  cod,  the  king  of  all  fish.  The  Gulf  Strer  i  gets  its 
greatest  deflection  perhaps  from  the  great  submarine  island, 
the  great  Bank  of  Newfoundland,  the  greatest  submarine 
deposit  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Here  the  arctic  and  the 
equatorial  currents  meet  and  produce,  by  the  intermingling 
of  hot  and  cold  water,  "  the  fog  on  the  banks."    This  groat 


39 

submarine  island,  tlic  great  bank,  is,  as  far  as  wc  can  define 
It,  of  an  irregular  oval  shape,  surroun 'ed  by  the  smaller 
banks  which  extend  many  hundred  miles  on  every  side.     A 
great  submarine  island  at  first,  it  has  for  thousands  of 
years  been  receiving  deposits  from  both  currents,  north 
and  south.     The  Gulf  Stream  has  deposited  the  mfusoria 
of  the  tropical  seas  ;  the  deposit,  as  proved  by  the  deep  sea 
soundings  of  Captain  Be/ryman,  extends  all  alontr  the 
course  of  the  stream  to  Ireland,  but  from  the  nature  of  the 
obstacles  it  meets  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  bank,  tho 
greatest   quantity  must  necessarily  be  deposited  there. 
Then  we  have  those  great  carriers  of  nature,  the  icebergs, 
bringing  from  their  polar  home  millions  of  tons  of  rock  for 
thousands  of  years,  and  depositing  them  all  over  the  banks 
when  they  ground.    Thus  nature  has  created  and  enriched 
this  extraordinary  submarine  region  which  forms  the  great 
breeding  and  feeding  ground  of  the  cod  species,  and  has 
such  an  extraordinary  influence  on  our  climate  and  our- 
selves.    Tory  beautiful  specimens  of  coral  and  pebbles  are 
sometimes  fished  up  by  the  French  bankers  ;  for  the  French, 
as  we  know,  follow  the  bank  fishery  to  a  great  extent,  and! 
those  who  have  been  in  the  habit  of  crossing  the  banks,  on 
their  voyage  to  Europe,  must  have  been  surprised  to  see 
the  number  of  French  ships  riding  at  anchor  by  their 
hempen  cables,  better  adapted  than  chains  for  the  contin- 
ual and  short  pitch  of  that  sea,  and  tho  hardy  fislierm.-n 
passing  along  in  their  large  boats,  hauling  their  bultows— 
the  most  ruinous  mode  of  fishing  ever  practiced.     The  bank 
fishery,  as  you  all  know,  is  confined  to  the  French  and  the 
Americans,  as  we  can  not  compete  with  their  bounties,  and 
there  is  not  a  single  British  ship  on  the  banks.    It  is  a 


40 


dreary  locality,  the  almost  constant  fog  and  drizzling  rain, 
the  doleful  sound  of  the  fog-horn  or  the  ships'  guns  calling 
their  crews,  the  troubled  ocean,  the  ships  rolling  almost 
under  the  waves,  steadied  by  their  main  or  try-sails  in  ad- 
dition to  their  moorings  ;  all  these  make  an  impression 
on  a  stranger  the  first  time  he  passes  the  banks  in  summer 
which  he  never  after  forgets.  From  this,  also,  most  per- 
sons receive  an  erroneous  idea  of  the  climate  of  the  island, 
which  they  imagine  to  be  the  same  as  that  on  the  banks, 
and  coming  themselves  from  the  cloudy  though  genial  at- 
mosphere of  England  or  Ireland,  can  not  believe  that  we 
are  all  the  while  enjoying  a  clear,  bright  sky,  beautiful  as 
that  of  Italy,  and  breathing  an  air  dry  and  pure,  never  felt 
in  the  humid  region  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  What  an  awful 
climate,  they  will  say,  you  have  in  Newfoundland  ;  how 
can  you  live  there  without  sun  in  a  continual  fog  ?  Have 
you  been  there  you  ask  them  ?  No !  tliey  say  ;  but  we 
have  crossed  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland,  flow  surprised, 
they  are  then  when  you  tell  them  that,  for  ten  months  at 
least  in  the  year,  all  the  fog  and  damp  of  the  banks  goes 
over  to  their  side  and  descends  in  rain  there  with  the 
southwesterly  winds,  while  we  never  have  the  benefit  of  it, 
unless  when  what  we  call  the  out-winds  blow.  In  fact,  the 
geography  of  America  is  very  little  known,  even  by  intel- 
ligent writers  at  home,  and  the  mistakes  made  in  our  lead- 
ing periodicals  are  frequently  very  amusing.  I  received  a 
letter  from  a  most  intelligent  friend  of  mine  some  time 
since,  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  hyperborean  region  of 
Newfoundland  ;  in  my  reply,  I  dated  my  letter  from  St. 
John's,  north  latitude  47°  30",  and  directed  it  to  Mr.  So 
and  So,  north  latitude  52°. 


41 

The  summer  here  is  remarkable  for  fog.  on  tlie  southern 
and  southwestern  coast  especially,  not  on  the  northern  or 
eastern  side  ;  the  reason  of  this  is  the  more  northerly  set 
of  the  Gulf  Stream  in  summer.     During  the  winter  months 
the  northern  or  arctic  current  is  stronger,  and  pushes  the 
equatorial  current  to  the  south,  consequently,  as  we  have 
very  little  intermingling  of  warm  watov  with  our  gelid 
sea,  we  have  little  or  no  fog.    But  in  summer  the  water  is 
not  so  cold  ;  the  Gulf  Stream  pushes  its  warm  current 
over  the  banks,  throws  a  supply  to  the  south  and  south- 
west of  the  island  toward  St.  Mary's,  Placentia,  and  For- 
tune Bays,  and  Burgeo.  and  the  harbors  on  the  southern 
shore  by  Rameo.    St.  Peter's  Banks,  and  all  the  shallow 
seas  about,  begin  to  send  off  steam.    The  Bay  of  Fundy  is 
clouded,  the  steamers  are  frequently  a  day  waiting  to  grope 
their  way  into  Halifax  Harbor,  and  tlie  dense  fog,  as  far 
north  as  St.  John's,  is  seen  like  a  great  wall  at  sea,  though 
in  general  it  does  not  penetrate  far  inland,  as  the  people 
say,  "  the  shore  eats  up  the  fog."    The  Gulf  Stream,  then, 
lias  to  answer  for  the  fogs  of  Newfoundland  as  well  as  for 
the  huraidi^-^  of  Ireland,  and  though  it  does  not  bathe  our 
shores,  still  a  large  portion  of  heat  is  thrown  off  by  it 
which  accounts  for  the  mildness  of  our  climate  in  compari' 
son  with  that  of  the  neighboring  continent.    Wo  never 
have  the  thermometer  down  to  zero,  unless  once  or  twice 
a  year,  and  then  only  for  a  few  hours,  and  for  a  few  de- 
grees, three,  four,  or  perhaps  ten,  while  we  hear  of  the 
temperature  of  ten  and  twenty  below  zero  in  Canada  and 
New  Brunswick,  and  this  life-destroying  cold  continuing 
for  days,  perhaps  weeks.    Then  see  another  effect  of  this 
-the  Canadian  and  other  North  Americans  of  the  same 


Hi 


42 

latitude  arc  obliged  to  keep  up  hot  stoves  continually  al- 
most in  their  houses,  while  we  have  open  fireplaces,  or  at 
most  Franklins ;  our  children,  I  may  say,  as  liglitly  clad 
as  in  summer,  spend  a  large  portion  of  their  time  in  the 
open  air  ;  and  thus,  while  our  neighbors  have  the  sallow 
hue  of  f ^.-.finoment  tinging  their  cheeks,  and  their  children 
look  CO  i\  J  .ratively  pale  and  delicate,  our  youngsters  are 
blooming  with  the  rosy  hue  of  health,  developing  their 
energies  by  air  and  exercise  and  i^reparing  themselves  for 
the  battle  of  life  hereafter,  either  as  hardy  mariners  or 
healthy  matrons— the  blooming  mothers  of  a  powerful 
race.    Thus  the  Gulf  Stream,  wliich  clouds  our  skies, 
paints  the  cheek,  invigorates  the  population,  pours  out  to 
us  in  its  return  from  the  northern  basin— the  arctic  cur- 
rent, which  enriches  our  seas  with  fish,  and  enables  us  to 
furnish  this  luxurious  and  necessary  article  of  food  to  the 
languid  intertropical  nations,  for  no  food  is  so  wholesome 
or  so  agreeable  to  the  inhabitants  of  warm  countries, 
whose  diet  is  mostly  vegetable,  as  the  dried  codfish  of 
Newfoundland.    I  may  remark,  that  by  the  climate  table 
furnislied  me  by  Mr.  Dclancy,  I  find  that  the  higliest  tem- 
perature was  96°  on  the  3d  of  July ;  8°  on  the  3d  of 
March,  and  the  mean  temperature  of  the  year  (1859)  44°  ; 
mean  max.  pres.  of  barometer,  29-74  inch  ;  rain  63-920 
for  the  year  ;  max.  quan.  in  twenty-four  hours  2.098  inch  ; 
Wind  N.N.W.  and  W.N.W.,  two  hundred  days ;  N.E. 
twenty-five  days;    W.   and   W.S.W.   thirty-eiglit  days; 
S.S.W.  and  S.E.  one  hundred  and  two  days  ;  rain  fell  on 
one  hundred  and  ton  days  ;  snow  fifty-four  days  ;  thunder 
and  lightning  five  days.    We  have  all  the  advantages  of 
an  insular  climate,  a  mild  temperature  Avith  its  disadvant- 


48 

ago    „„cortai„  weather.    I  may  remark,  likewise,  what 
Ahbe  llaynal  recorded  already,  that  the  climate  of  New- 
foundland  i.  considered  the  most  invigorating  and  salubri- 
ons  m  the  world,  and  that  we  have  no  indigenous  disease. 
It  follows,  naturally,  that  I  should,  in  connection  with  onr 
c hmate,  speak  o,  our  limited  agriculture.    Besides  the 
shallow  nature  of  our  soil  i„  most  parts  of  the  island,  we 
I'ave,  on  account  of  the  set  of  the  arctic  current,  carry 
■ngits  floating  ice  and  icebergs  along  our  shores,  a  late 
and  uncertain  spring;  herbage  will  not,  at  least  within 
he  influence  of  the  cold  winds,  spring  up  as  soon  as  our 
latitude  would  entitle  u,  to;  we  maybe  perhaps  three 
weeks  late,  but  then  see  the  compensation  we  reap  from 
those  fields  of  ice,  a  crop  which,  I  suppose,  altogether  re- 
a  «es  a  million  sterling  in  the  European  market ;  I  mean 
he  0,1  and  skins  of  the  scal_a  crop  which  we  do  not  sow, 
but  the  reaping  of  which  euc.nrages  ship-building,  rears 
«P  the  hardiest  mariners  in  the  world,  and  throws  hund- 
reds of  thousands  of  pounds  into  circulation,  at  a  season 
which  m  all  other  northern  countries  is  one  of  comparative 
Idleness.    The  prosecution  of  the  seal  fishery  does  not  in- 
terfere with  the  summer  cod  fishery,  the  winter  herrin. 
flsLory,  or  farming  operations.    Thus  we  have  a  great 
blessing  bestowed  on  us  by  Divine  Providence,  a  wonder- 
ful source  of  wealth  coming  in  just  at  the  time  that,  but 
for  It,  we  should  have  nothing  else  to  do ;  for  this  we  may 
thank  the  great    northern  current,  which  retards  our 
spring,  but  sends  us     .-ich  harvest,  and  one  which  no  gov- 
ernment bounty  or  encouragement  could  create  elsewhere 
A  doubt  has  been  expressed  by  many  whether  the  seal 

fishery  will  last— thcv  feor  M'lt  fl-f -.—••      ij    .       • 
— -Y  .i„.i  .,,„([  jj,e  cuiitmuai  destruction 


44 


of  both  young  and  old  seals  will  exterminate  the  breed  and 
destroy  the  fishery,  as  was  the  case  with  the  Greenland 
whale  fishery.    I  can  not  agree  with  this  opinion,  and  I 
will  state  my  rcasons-'Tis  true  the  seal,  phoca  cristata  or 
barhata,  is  one  of  the  mammalia,  bringing  forth  but  one  at  a 
time  and  that  unnually— it  can  not  multiply  like  the  cod- 
fish with  two  millions  of  eggs.    If  we  could  get  at  the  seals, 
then,  I  have  no  doubt,  but  that  in  a  few  years,  like  the 
Greenland  whale,  they  would  be  almost  all   destroyed. 
This  has  hajipened  elsewhere.    In  the  great  work  of  St. 
Bazil,  the  Hexamcron,  I  find  a  description  of  seal-fishing 
in  the  Mediterranean,  or  perhaps  in  the  Dardanelles  or 
Black  Sea  ;  the  seal,  he  says,  is  speared  with  a  harpoon  to 
which  is  P    ached  an  inflated  skin,  so  that,  once  struck,  it 
can  not  sink,  and  is,  therefore,  easily  dispatched.     Nq,^^  j^. 
is  remarkable  that  the  Esquimauv  and  Greenlanders  of 
the  present  day  use  the  same  means  to  kill  seals.    Well, 
the  seals  in  the  Mediterranean  may  be  considered  as  exter- 
minated, being  now  extremely  rare  ;  but  here,  fortunately 
for  ourselves,  we  can  not  kill  the  goose  with  the  goldeu 
a^g.    See  the  great  breeding  and  feeding  ground  of  the 
seal,  the  polar  basin,  Baffin's  and  Hudson's  Bays,  the 
Northern  Labrador-all  these  places  are  inaccessible  to 
us ;  we  can  not  in  the  winter  or  the  spring  advance  further 
than  the  outskirts  of  the  great  seal  field— we  kill  hundreds 
of  thousands,  we  can  not  reach  the  millions  behind  them  ; 
we  must  wait  till  Providence  sends  us  a  share,  for  if  man's 
cupidity  had  full  play,  he  would  rush  at  once  to  the  arctic 
solitudes,  kill  all  the  seals  he  could  find,  and  the  North 
Atlantic  would  in  a  few  years  become  like  the  Mediterra- 
nean—a  comparative  waste  of  barren  water.    To  return, 


46 

however,  to  our  agricultural  capabilities :  first,  we  have 
the  means  of  raising  on  our  wild  pastures,  millions  of  that 
most  useful  animal  to  man-tho  sheep.    On  the  southern 
and  western  shore,  indeed  cverywhero  in  the  island    I 
have  sc      the  finest  sheep  walk ;  and  what  is  better  the 
droppings  of  the  sheep  in  this  country  induce  a  most'lux- 
uriant  crop  of  white  clover,  and  prevent  the  spread  of  bog 
plants.    If  sheep  were  encouraged,  we  should  have  fresh 
meat  in  abundance,  and  their  fleece  would  furnish  warm 
clothing  in  the  winter  for  our  people  of  a  better  quality 
than  the  stuff  they  now  buy  "  half  waddy  and  devil's  dust " 
and  which  impoverishes  them  to  procure  it.    Domestic 
manufactures  would  be  encouraged,  the  people  would  be- 
come indus.rious  and  comfortable,  and  every  housewife  in 
our  out-harbors  would  realize,  in  some  sort,  that  sublime 
description  ofa  valiant  woman  by  Solomon,  Prov.,  xxxi 
"  she  hat'  put  out  her  hands  to  strong  things,  and  her  fin- 
gers have  taken  hold  of  the  spindle  ;  she  has  sought  wool 
and  flax  and  hath  wrought  by  tlie  counsel  of  her  hands  • 
she  shall  not  fear  for  her  house  in  the  cold  of  snow,  for  all 
her  domestics  are  clothed  with  double  garments  ;  slie  hath 
looked  well  to  the  paths  of  her  house  and  hath  not  eaten 
her  bread  idle ;  her  children  rose  up  and   called  her 
blessed ;   her  husband   had  praised  her."    But,   unfortu- 
nately, this  great  blessing  of  sheep  pasture  is  marred  by 
one  curse,  and  idleness  and  poverty  are  too  often  the  ac- 
companiments of  the  poor  man's  fireside  in  the  long  winter 
-as  long  as  a  vicious  herd  of  dogs  are  allowed  to  be  kept 
m  the  country,  so  long  will  poverty  be  the  winter  portion 
of  the  poor.    In  no  other  part  of  the  world  would  such  an 
iniquity  be  permitted     There  is  a  law  offering  £5  for  the 


46 


destruction  of  a  wolf,  and  I  never  have  lieard  of  jGS  worth 
of  mutton  being  destroyed  by  wolves  since  the  days  of 
Cabot ;  but  why  do  not  our  legislators,  if  they  have  tho 
interest  of  the  people  at  heart  (and  according  to  their  elec- 
tion speeches,  every  member  is  actuated  by  the  most  phil- 
anthropic and  patriotic  motives),  pass  and  enforce  a  law 
against  dogs,  which  devour  every  sheep  they  can  find,  and 
have  almost  exterminated  tho  breed  altogetlier ;  for  no 
one  will  keep  sheep  while  his  neighbor  is  allowed  to  keep 
wolves.    I  will  read  you  a  list  of  certified  losses,  furnished 
to  me  by  the  Rev.  M.  Brown,  of  Bona  Vista,  all  of  which 
took  place  last  year  in  that  small  locality.     (Read  a  list  of 
twelve  milch  cows,  value  ^£96  lOs.  ;  of  sixty-two  sheep  and 
fifteen  goats,  all  destroyed  in  Bona  Vista  in  the  year,  by 
dogs.)     I  hope  the  government  will  at  last  see  the  neces- 
sity of  putting  a  stop  to  this  state  of  things,  which  would 
not  be  permitted  by  a  Turkish  pasha  in  his  province  ;  but 
then  the  pasha,  perhaps,  has  not  an  eye  to  the  next  elec- 
tion.   Nowhere  can  be  seen  a  more  distressing  spectacle 
than  a  stalwart  man  yoked  in  with  a  couple  of  dogs  draw- 
ing a  load  of  firewood,  losing  his  whole  winter,  tearing  the 
poor  clothes  ho  is  obliged  to  buy  and  which  his  wife  ought 
to  spin  and  weave  (spinning  and  weaving  are  taught  in 
the  convents,  but  we  can't  get  the  children  to  learn  the 
art),  and  brutalizing  his  children  by  keeping  them  from 
school,  because,  as  the  usual  e^'iuse  is,  they  have  to  go  to 
the  woods.     One  horse  wouli"         he  work  of  one  hundred 
dogs  and  be  always  useful,  and  the  man  who  could  not 
keep  a  horse,  could  hire  his  neighbor's  for  a  few  days  at  an 
expense  less  than  what  he  even  wastes  in  boots  and  clothes. 
These  observations  may  be  unpalatable  to  some,  but  I  have 


47 

the  interest,  of  the  people  leo  much  at  heart  to  conceal  my 
sent„„e„ts  on  a  subject  of  such  vital  importance  to  thcr 
and  rel,.M„„,  education,  civilisation  arc  all  snffcrin.  from 
th.,  cu,.so  of  dogs,  worse  than  all  the  plagues  o."  fi'vpt  to 
1..S  un  ortunate  country.    I„  Canada,  Net  Brunswll  c 
any  of  the  other  northern  provinces,  such  a  thing  would 
no  beallowed-hutthcro  the  people  have  not  the  spri,,. 
»cal  fishery  or  summer  eod  fishery,  and  are,  therefore" 
,    obi  ged  to  preserve  their  sheep  and  cattle.    Cattle  of  the 
best  breed  tbrive  here,  and  both  our  beef  and  mutton  are 
found  to  be  of  superior  flavor  to  those  imported  from  the 
ne,gh bonng  provinces.    I  have  several  times  suggested 
the  estabbshmcnt  of  a  cattle  fair  at  Ilolyrood,  at  the  head 
of  Conception  Bay,  where  the  people  of  the  great  cattle- 
producing  districts  of  the  cape  shore,  Plaeentia,  St.  Mary', 
and  Salraon,er, might  find  a  market  for  their  surplus  stock' 
though  to  tell  the  truth,  they  have  hitherto  made  very  little 
use  of  their  fine  pastures.    The  populous  districts  of  Con- 
cept,on  Bay  and  St.  John's  would  then  be  supplied  •  farm- 
ers  and  vietualers  would  know  where  and  when  to  obtain 
stock,  and  an  impulse  would  be  given  to  cattlc-breedin.- 
at  an  expense  of  less  than  XIO  a  year  to  the  governme,;;' 
lor  printing  the  proclamations  and  paying  a  toll  clerk 
wine,.,  ■  ■  a  few  years,  would  highly  improve  those  grazing' 
districts.     Goats  form  a  very  important  item  in  the  ^^^t 
cultural  riches  of  other  countries;  with  a  large  space"  of 
thm  barren  land  like  Newfomidland,  they  genemlly  forage 
for  themselves  for  a  great  part  of  the  year  ;  their  milk  is 
most  wholesome,  and  goat's  cheese  is  not  a  bad  addition  to 
a  poor  man's  meal.    Kid's  flesh  is  a  delicacy,  and  in  Rome 
eapetto,  or  kid,  is  one  of  the  cheapest,  most  abundant,  and 


48 


most  (loliciousof  meats  while  it  is  in  season.     It  is  a  shame 
that,  even  in  feu  John's,  wo  have  little  chance  of  a  turkey 
till  the  Halifax  steamer  comes  in,  and  the  goose,  the  most 
nutritious,  the  most  useful,  and  the  most  easily  kept  of  all 
fowl  in  a  northern  country  like  this,  is  just  to  scarce.    In 
the  north  of  Europe  you  get  goose  almost  every  day  ;  and 
a  good  roast  goose  for  dinner,  and  a  feather  l)ed  to  rest  on, 
arc  not  to  be  despised  ;  and  here  is  the  very  habitat  of  the 
goose,  the  very  climate  of  all  others  where  the  bird  could 
be  brouglit  to  the  greatest  perfection,  and  the  wild  goose, 
which  I'l  oeds  in  enormous  numbers,  is  the  most  delicate  of 
our  wild  fowl,  we  get  our  geese  from  Nova  Scotia,  and  our 
feather  beds  from  Ireland  or  Hamburg.    All  garden  vege- 
tables, cabbages,  carrots,  turnips,  salads,  etc.,  arc  brou'^ht 
to  the  highest  perfection,  and  the  climate  appears  especial- 
ly adapted  to  impart  succulcncy  to  them.     The  potato, 
you  all  know,  before  the  rot,  was  of  the  finest  quality.    It 
is  now  nearly  recovered,  but  I  regret  to  sc^  in  many  of  the 
out-ports  the  potato-field  reverting  to  a  state  of  nature — 
people  prefer  the  hard  and  unwholesome  Hamburg  bread, 
American  pork,  and  Danish  butter,  to  the  fresh  and  nutri- 
tious food  they  coidd  raipc  themselves — in  a  great  measure 
trustiLg  to  a  supply  of  meal  from  the  government,  if  the 
Fishery  is  short,  or  to  the  eleemosynary  relief  distributed  in 
the  fall  under  t^.e  name  of  road-money,  instead  of  improv- 
ing every  spu.e  hour  and  every  leeward  day  in  clearing 
and  improving  a  plot  of  ground.     We  have  not  hands 
enough  even  for  the  Fislicry,  and  thus  we  see  (unless  in  the 
populous  and  industrious  districts  of  Harbor  Main,  Brigus, 
and  the  River  Head  of  Harbor  Grace,  and  perhaps  a  few 
more  exceptional  localities),  that  the  land  1  '-ought  into  cul- 


40 

tivation  is  ratlicr  diminishing  than  extending,  and  wo  arc 
obliged  even  to  import  largo  quantities  of  huy  from  tho 
States,  where  labor  is  so  high  and  land  so  dear,  while  mil- 
lions  of  acres  are  lying  waste  about  us.     Cereal  crops  do- 
mand  a  special  notice— wheat  will  ripen  very  well,  espe- 
cially if  the  proper  variety  of  seed  adapted  for  a  northern 
country  bo  procured ;  but  as  lo.ig  as  wo  have  tho  great 
grain  country  of  tho  Unite     States  at  our  doors,  m  ono 
will  take  much  trouble  ab.       ^uch  an  unprofitable  crop. 
I  have  never  seen  Hner  barley  th:.n  the  growth  of  New- 
foundland, and  all  persons  who  have  bouglit,  as  I  havo 
done,  Newfoundland  oats,  at  nearly  double  tlio  price  of  tho 
husky  grain  imported  here,  will  find  that  ho  has  gained  by 
his  purchase.    Hops  are  most  luxuriant,  and  so  are  straw- 
berries,  currants,  gooseberries,  cherries,  and  many  otlier 
species  of  f,-uit.     The  hawthorn  flourishes  here,   when 
planted,  and  I  have  seen  as  fine  hedges  of  it  laden  with 
haws  here  as  in  the  homo  country  ;  and  I  mention  this  as 
a  proof  of  the  comparative  mildness  of  our  climate,  for  I 
find  in  Russia,  as  far  south  as  Moscow,  it  is  a  hot-house 
plant.    My  estimate,  then,  of  the  agricultural  capabilities 
of  Newfoundland,  comparing  it  with  what  I  have  seen  in 
the  north  of  Europe,  is,  that  if  we  had  a  large  agricultural 
population,  we  could  support  them  in  comfort,  and  that  as 
population  increases,  we  must  attend  more  to  tlio  land,  and 
then  more  general  wealth  and  comfort  will  bo  diffused  a 
hundred-fold,  than  now,  .rhen  our  population  is,  I  may  say, 
wholly  maritime,  and  we  depend  almost  altogether  on 
other  countries  for  our  food.    My  earnest  advice  would 
be,  kill  the  dogs,  introduce  settlers,  encoura-e  domestic 
manufactures,  home-made  linen  and  home-spun  cloth,  and 


50 


Newfoundland  will  become  the  Paradise  of  the  industrious 
man.    The  soil,  in  general,  is  thin,  but  kind,  easily  cleared, 
and  besides  the  legitimate  manure  of  the  farm-yard,  can 
always  bo  enriched  near  the  sea  by  searack  and  fish  oflal  ; 
tlie  climate  is  comparatively  mild,  and  all  we  want  arc' 
hands  and  industry.     Tiie  Fishery,  however,  of  Xewfound- 
land  is  tlic  great  and  grand  industry  of  the  country.     Other 
lands  may  surpass  us  in  every  thing  else,  but  here  wo  arc 
without  a  rival ;  the  natural  ]n-oductions  of  one  country 
may  not  only  be  raised  in  another,  but  even  improve  by 
transplanting,  as  the  Peruvian  potato  did  in  Ireland,  and 
the  East  India  ginger  in  Jamaica.    Tea  may  be  cultivated 
out  of  China  ;  but  the  noble  codfish— this  is  beyond  man's 
control,  this  is  the  gift  of  nature  to  those  northern  seas, 
and  as  long  as  the  world  lasts,  Newfoundland  will  be  the 
great  fish-pro' '  cing  country.     Tiie  codfish,  the  chief  of  the 
family  of  the  i^adacece,  inho/oits,  in  general,  the  North  At- 
lantic, between  the  fortieth  and  sixtieth  degrees  of  latitude 
on  the  European  coast,  but  extends  further  south  on  the 
American  side.    In  another  country,  the  description  of  the 
capture  and  curing  of  cod  would  furnish  materials  for  a 
very  interesting  lecture,  but  here  it  is  superHuous  to  say 
any  thing  on  that  subject.    Tiie  grand  bank  appears  to  be 
the  great  breeding  ground  of  tlio  species,  and  the  finest  fish 
are  caught  there.    In  the  Lafoden  Islands  in  Norway,  under 
the  Arctic  Circle,  a  great  cod  fishery  is  carried  on,  but,  as 
far  as  I  could  learn,  the  catch  is  under  100,000  quintals. " 
The  fishers  tliere  pay  great  attention  to  the  curing ;  the 
fish  is  nicely  packed  in  boxes,  the  fins  trimmed  ofl",  and 
though  in  reality  not  as  good  fish  as  that  of  Newfoundland, 
bri  igs  a  higher  price,  as  a  fancy  fisli,  among  tno  Spaniards 


51 


and  CuLans.    I  will  not  offer  an  opinion  on  tl.o  use  or 
abuse  ^.  cod  seines,  the  improvements  in  curing  or  catch- 
in-,  for  our  people  know  more  about  these  matters  tlian 
any  other  race  on  the  face  of  the  earth.     I  may  remark, 
however,  that  the  want  of  a  population  in  many  of  the  out- 
ports,  causes  a  loss  of  a  great  quantity  of  the  most  nutritious 
and  delicate  food,  the  air-bladder,  or  as  wo  call  it,  cod's 
sounds,  which  consists  almost  altogether  of  pure  gelatine, 
and  sells  at  a  high  rate  in  any  market  into  which  it  has 
been  introduced.    The  me.iicinal  qualities  of  the  fresh  liver 
oil  have  been  fully  proved,  and  the  manuf-icture  of  that 
articln  has  brought  a  great  increase  of  wealth  to  the  coun- 
try.   Like  all  good  things,  however,  it  is  easily  imitated  • 
the  common  cod  oil,  made  by  the  putrifying  process,  has 
been  refined  at  home  by  animal  charcoal,  filtered  so  as  (o 
deprive  it  of  all  bad  smell,  being  already  deprived,  by  pu- 
trefaction in  the  manufacture,  of  iodine  and  all  other  me- 
dicinal qualities,  and  po,wned  oiT  by  dishonest  dealers  as 
the  genuine  article.     It  would  bo  well,  therefore,  for  tlie 
credit  of  the  article  and  the  advantage  of  those  who  re- 
quire to  use  it,  if  some  particular  seal  or  mark  was  fixed 
on  the  bottles  or  vessels  here,  which  would,  in  some  sort, 
serve  as  a  guarantee  of  its  purity  in  Europe.    We  have  not 
only,  I  may  say,  a  monopoly  of  the  cod  fishery  in  New- 
foundland (of  course,  I  no^v  include  the  French),  but  wc 
see  the  market  every  day  increasing.    See  what  a  prodig- 
ious expansion  the  Brazil  trade  has  taken  within  the  last 
few  years  ;  what  will  it  be  in  future  ages  when  Brazil  will 
count  its  population  by  hundreds  of  millions,  when  Cuba 
will  increase  ten-ibld  ?    All  tropical  people  like  codfish, 
and  must  have  it ;  and,  thei-^fore,  if  wo  could  produce  one 


52 


liuiidred  millions  of  quintals,  we  could  not  supply  the  de- 
maud  in  future  ages.    The  roc  of  a  cod  contains  two  mil- 
lions of  eggs,  and  if  all  these  came  to  maturity,  one  cod 
would  fill  the  ocean  in  a  few  years  ;  but  though  countless 
millions  perish,  we  know  that,  if  we  do  not  violate  the  law 
of  nature  by  destroying  the  mother  or  breeding  fish,  we 
can  not  lessen  the  species.    There  is  another  fish,  liowever, 
the  salmom  which  requires  strict  legislative  protection,  as 
it  comes  to  spawn  in  the  river,  and  is  therefore  easily  de- 
stroyed by  the  cupidity  of  man.     It  is  the  duty  of  the  gov- 
ernment, as  the  guardians  of  tlie  public  interest,  to  look  to 
this,  to  appoint  a  committee  to  investigate  the  laws  made 
for  the  preservation  of  salmon  in  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
laud,  and  to  use  the  most  stringent  measures,  both  here  and 
in  the  Labrador,  to  prevent  any  wanton  destruction  of  the 
fisli,  or  any  annoyance  to  it  in  the  breeding  season.     We 
know  that  through  ignorance  or  carelessness,  this  rich  fish 
has  been  almost  annihilated  in  some  of  the  home  rivers, 
and  it  costs  a  series  of  years  and  the  strictest  precautions 
to  nurse  up  the  remnant  and  re-establish  the  breed  once 
more  ;  for  by  an  extraordinary  law  of  nature,  tliis  fish 
always  returns  to  the  place  where  it  was  spawned,  and  if 
disturbed,  disappears  forever.     There  is  another  delicious 
fish,  which  is  now  only  hauled  for  bait  and  manure,  for  the 
little  cured  is  of  no  consequence,  but  which  will  hereafter 
become  a  great  source  of  wealth— tliis  is  the  caplin,  or,  as 
naturalists  call  it,  the  Sahio  articus.    We  see  wha t  a  source 
of  profit  the  sardines  and  anchovies  are  to  the  people  of 
the  Mediterranean.    Now,  I  am  quite  sure,  tliat  if  we  had 
hands  enougli  to  cure  this  delicious  fish,  it  would  take  rank 
witli  these  delicacies,  and,  like  the  codfish,  the  supply  of 


53 


caplin  IS  inexliaustiblc.    I  am  quite  sure  that  the  habit  of 
talang  large  quantities  for  manure  from  the  spawning 
beaches,  has,  in  some  cases,  chased  away  tlie  lish,  for  in- 
stinct IS  so  strong  in  all  fishes,  that  if  impeded  in  the  oper- 
ation of  spawning  they  generally  seek  other  localities 
Indeed,  I  never  cou.    believe  tliat  the  use  of  this  delicious 
fish  for  manure  is  legitimate.    If  they  were  merely  pickled 
and  dried,  a  simple  operation  which  could  be  performed 
by  children,  tliey  would  be  worth  at  least  a  dollar  a  bar- 
rel, and  a  million  of  barrels  would  find  a  market,  if  intro- 
duced into  fisli-cating  countries,  and  not  sensibly  lessen  the 
quantity  which  every  summer  swarms  in  every  bay  and 
creek  of  tlie  Island  and  Labrador.    I  have  no  doubt  but 
that  hereafter  they  will  be  preserved  in  various  ways  and    ' 
HI  extraordinary  quantities  ;  but  at  present,  coming  as  tlicy 
do  in  the  height  of  the  fishing  season,  we  have  no  hands  to 
cure  them  at  that  busy  time.    A  great  mine  of  wealth  wo 
possess,  and  which  is  only  partially  worked  or  turned  to 
account,  is  the  herring  fishery.     In  no  part  of  the  wo.ld  is 
the  herring  finer,  or,  I  believe,  so  abundant,  and  all  it  re- 
quires is  to  be  properly  cured.    The  Dutch  became  a  great 
nation,  it  is  said,  principally  by  the  herring  fishery,  and 
Amsterdam,  they  say,  is  built  on  a  foundation  of  herrino- 
bones.    Even  at  present,  the  Dutch  herrings,  though  cau-irt 
on  the  same  ground  as  the  English  or  Scotch,  bear  a  higher 
price  than  any  other  in  tlie  world,  and  are  eaten  raw  as  a 
relish  in  Holland  and  Germany.    The  first  barrel  of  new 
licrring  that  is  taken,  is  forwarded  to  the  king  at  the 
Hague.     It  is  carried  in  procession  with  banners  and  mili- 
tary music-the  day  is  one  of  public  rejoicing,  and  a  fow 
of  the  new  herrings  are  sent  as  presents  to  the  nobles  ol 


54 


the  land.  I  understand  that  the  Dutch  bleed  each  herrino:, 
use  the  best  quality  of  salt,  and  take  the  greatest  care  in 
their  manipulation.  If  they  had  the  rich  herring  of  Lab- 
rador, it  would  be  worth  the  gold  mines  of  Australia  to 
them.  A  movement  was  made  to  procure  instructors  in 
curing,  some  time  ago,  but  I  know  not  from  what  cause  it 
failed.  I  believe  the  Dutch  prohibit  their  herring  curcrs 
from  engaging  with  foreigners,  but  Scotland  could  furnish 
us  with  many  nearly  as  good,  and  thus  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  pounds  would  be  yearly  gained  to  the  country,  and 
the  gifts  of  Providence  would  not  be  abused.  One  great 
step  for  the  preservation  of  the  herring  on  the  western 
shore,  has  been  made  by  passing  Mr.  Bcnning's  bill.  I 
have  been  informed,  on  good  authority,  that  the  waste  of 
herring  for  supplying  bait  to  the  French  was  awful,  and 
that  one  year  20,000  barrels,  for  which  there  was  no  sale, 
were  cast  back  into  the  sea.  No  fishery  then,  I  think,  re- 
quires the  watchful  care  of  government  more  than  this, 
and  if  properly  preserved  and  managed,  it  will  be  nearly 
as  great  a  source  of  wealth  as  the  cod  fishery,  and  more 
secure  than  the  seal  fishery.  The  whale  fishery  was  form- 
erly prosecuted  to  some  extent  in  the  Bay  of  Despair,  but 
the  whale,  as  we  know,  is  easily  exterminated,  and  though 
the  fishery  is  yet  followed  to  some  extent,  it  is  one  wo  can 
not  expect  to  continue — still  H  will  be  always  more  or  less 
an  addition  to  our  resources.  Allow  me  to  say  a  few 
words  of  my  experience  of  the  people  :  I  have  found  them 
in  all  parts  of  the  island,  hospitable,  generous,  and  oblig- 
ing ;  Catholics  and  Protestants  live  together  in  the  great- 
est harmony,  and  it  is  only  in  print  we  find  any  thing  ex- 
cept on  extraordinary  occasions,  like  disunion  among  them. 


65 


X  Lave  ak-ap,  ,„  t,,e  „o3t  p,,t,,t,„,  ,,,.^j,  .^^^^  experienced 
todncss  and  eonsideration-I  .peak  not  only  of  tl.e  agent. 
of  the  mereantile  Leases,  wl,o  are  remarkable  for  tl.eir 
0^.  ahty  and  attention  to  all  visitors,  or  of  ,„agistrates, 
nke  Mr.  Gadea,  of  Harbor  Briton,  or  Mr.  Peyten,  o 
Twdhngate,  ,vhose  guest  I  was,  but  tl,e  Protestant  n.sl.er- 
men  were  always  ready  to  join  Catl.olies  in  manning  a 
boa  w,.en  I  required  it,  and  I  a,„  happy  to  .ay  that  tl.e 
Cathohes  have  aeted  likewise  to  tl.eir  elergymen.  It  is  a 
pIoas„,g  refleetiou  that  thougl.  we  are  not  immaculate,  and 

o>  er  130,000,  we  have  rarely  more  than  eight  or  ten  prison- 
oryn  ja,l,  and  grievous  erimes,  are,  happily,  most  rare,  eap- 
.tal  offenses  seareely  heard  of.  I  will  now  ask  you  to  aecom- 
pa..y  me  round  the  coast.    Leaving  St.  John's  a  few  miles 
bnngs  us  to  Bay  Bull's  in  the  southern  district,  a  fine  har- 
bor of  refuge  for  St.  John's,  along  to  Ferryland,  the  ancient 
but  huherto  neglected  capital  of  the  district,  by  Oano 
Broyle,  Fermeuse,  and  on  to  Cape  Eace.    All  this  district 
has  fine  land,  magnificent  harbors,  a  great  fishery,  and  only 
wants  a  large  population.    On  round  the  eape  to  Tre- 
passey  with  a  spare  popnlation,  less  than  800,  where  thou- 
sands eonid  find  a  comfortable  living  ;  on  to  the  fine  Bay 
of  S  .  Mary's,  with  the  richest  fishing  grounds  in  the  island, 
Kcellent  land,  and  the  rich  and  beautiful  arm  of  Salmon- 
ler,  extending  far  up  into  the  country,  well  timbered,  and 
adapted  for  the  seat  of  a  rich  agricultural,  as  well  as  a 
mantime  population.    I  am  happy  to  say  that  settlers  are 
now  coming  there  in  numbers,  and  in  twenty  vears  it  will 
be  one  of  the  finest  districts  in  the  island.    The  lover  of 
scenery  and  field-sports  could  nowhere  spend  a  pleasanter 


56 


week  than  in  Colinct.  We  hurry  on  round  the  Cape  St. 
Mary's  to  the  great  Bay  of  Placcntia,  sixty  miles  wide, 
ninety  miles  long,  rich  in  fisheries  and  minerals— copper  at 
Mahony's  Cove,  lead  at  La  Manche,  studded  with  beautiful 
islands,  some  of  them,  like  Meraslnen,  twenty  miles  long. 
It  will  hereafter  be  the  most  important  district  in  New- 
foundland, but  as  yet,  the  small  population  of  the  bay,  in- 
cluding Burin,  perhaps  not  more  than  13,000,  hinders  its 
development.  Fortune  Bay  has  tlie  most  beautiful  scen- 
ery, rich  fisheries,  and  especiaHy  of  herring,  and  several 
great  arms— Connaigre  Bay,  Hermitage,  and  the  Bay  of 
Despair,  all  waiting  to  be  filled  up  with  a  population.  Be- 
tween the  two  great  bays  of  Fortune  and  Placentia  we  find 
the  French  colony  of  St.  Pierrcs  and  Miquelon— the  only 
remnant  of  the  immense  empire  France  once  possessed  in 
Nortli  America. 

The  small  rocky  island  of  St.  Peter  contains  in  the  town 
perhaps  2000  fixed  inhabitants;  it  is  a  place  of  great 
trade;  the  church  is  very  handsome,  though  a  wooden 
one  ;  the  great  liospital,  served  by  six  Sisters  of  Charity, 
is  a  noble  establishment.  A  prefect  apostolic.  Very  Revd. 
Pere  Le  Helloco,  and  two  assistant  priests,  look  after  the 
spiritual  interests  of  the  inhabitants,  and  Christian  broth- 
ers teach  the  boys,  as  nuns  do  the  girls.  The  government 
authorities  are  remarkable  for  their  courtesy  to  strangers, 
and  I  never  can  be  grateful  enougli  for  all  the  kind'iiess 
and  attention  I  always  received  from  the  governor  and 
officials,  the  naval  authorities  (for  there  are  no  military 
stationed  in  the  island),  and  the  prefect  apostolic  and  liis 
clergy.  The  southern  shore,  from  St.  Peter's  by  the  Burgeo 
Islands,  the  seat  of  a  largo  fislring  population,  is  indented 


57 

with  fine  harbors ;  l,ut  tlie  land,  as  far  I  saw  it,  is  covered 
with  moss  and  the  population  thin.    It  is  the  least  devel- 
oped district  in  Newfoundland.    We  now  pass  round  Cape 
Ray  into  tlie  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  enter  on  what  is 
called  the  Frcncli  Shore,  which  extends  to  Cape  John  on 
the  northeast  side.     Cod  Roy  is  rich  in  agricultural  capa- 
bilities.   St.  George's  Bay,  though  deficient  in  ports,  has 
a  fine  herring  fishery  ;  and  small  as  the  population  is,  it 
consists  of  four  races,  who  speak  four  languages:  English, 
French,  Gaelic,  and  Micmac  Indian.    The  fishery  in  the 
gulf  is  what  the  French  call  a  nomade  fishery,  they  follow 
the  cod  in  its  migrations.    We  turn  round  Cape  Norman 
from  the  dangerous  Bay  of  Pistolet,  by  Quirpon,  on  to 
Croque,  a  fine  harbor,  the  headquarters  of  the  French 
navy,  till  we  come  to  the  French  limits  at  Cape  St.  John. 
The  country  is  very  thinly  inhabited  all  along  this  line,  as 
the  fixed  population  is,  I  may  say,  not  recognized  by  either 
power.    Some  copper  mines  are  opened  there,  wliich  will, 
it  is  expected,  turn  out  most  valuable.    Notre  Dame  Bay,' 
the  Bay  of  Exploits,  and  all  the  surrounding  arms  are' 
rich  in  fine  timber,  good  land,  and  productive  fisheries.    I 
may  make  the  same  remark  of  Bona  Vista  Bay,  especially 
in  the  rich  timbered  arms.    Passing  the  old  Cape  of  Bona 
Vista,  the  first  discovered  part  of  Newfoundland,  we  enter 
the  great  Bay  of  Trinity,  pass  the  fine  harbor  of  Catalina, 
and  soon  come  to  the  beautiful  Swiss-looking  town  of 
Trinity,  seated  in  one  of  the  finest  harbors  of  the  world, 
on  to  Bay  Bulls  Arm,  the  terminus  of  the  Atlantic  Tele- 
graph.   We  return  to  Baccalieu  Island,  so  called  from  the 
Beothic  name  of  the  codfish,  and  enter  the  great  Bay  of 
Conception,  with  its  fine  town  of  Harbor  Grace,  the  seat 


58 


of-  a  Catliolic  bislioprick  ;  its  rich  population  of  nearly 
40,000  inhabitants  ;  its  great  sealing  fleet ;  populous  towns 
and  villages,  telegraphs,  agriculture,  in  fact,  every  thing 
that  a  large  civilized  community  requires.     We  return  to 
Topsail  or  Portugal  Cove  where  a  railway  to  St.  John's 
ought  to  convey  us  ;  and  I  hope  that  in  a  very  few  years 
a  railway  and  a  lino  of  good  steamers  will  connect  the 
Conception  Bay  and  St.  John's  trading  communities,  and 
be  most  highly  advantageous  to  both.     I  regret  that  I  can 
not  take  you  into  the  unexplored  interior— to  the  Big 
Pond,  seventy  miles  long,  the  future  seat  of  a  great  popula- 
tion ;  to  Indian  Pond,  and  the  other  great  lakes  and  rivers 
which  beautify  the  country.     (This  is  only  an  outline  of 
the  description  of  the  country,  which,  with  the  explana- 
tions on  the  map,  occupied  more  than  an  hour.)    The  in- 
terior appears  to  be  a  country  such  as  Britain  was  an- 
ciently, marshy,  but  easily  reclaimed  ;  there  being  every- 
where a  fall  into  the  great  lake  or  by  the  rivers  lo  the  sea. 
When  we  know  what  the  state  of  tlie  North  of  Europe 
was  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  and  what  a  great  change 
it  has  undergone  since,  we  may  reasonably  hope  that  the 
climate  of  the  interior  of  Newfoundland  will,  by  cultiva- 
tion, drainage,  and  reclamation  of  bog  land,  undergo  a 
great  change.    The  coast  climate  will  always  depend  on 
the  oceanic  current,  but  the  interior  climate  will,  under 
those  influences,  be  modified.  I  know  many  persons  imagine 
that  the  interior  will  never  be  inhabited,  but  they  have 
not  studied  the  subject.    I  see  the   sandy  and  barren 
shores  of  the  Baltic,  with  a  climate  and  soil  far  worse  than 
Newfoundland,  and  without  any  great  maritime  or  fishery 
resources,  as  we  have,  the  seat  of  a  large  population. 


69 


Why  ?  Because  the  people  of  Courland,  Finland,  Estho- 
nia,  Prussia  Proper,  Mecklenburg,  and  all  the^o  other 
northern  regions  have  no  other  place  to  go  to.  They  can 
not,  as  of  old,  follow  their  chiefs  from  their  forests^,  and 
carve  out  for  themselves  homes  in  the  genial  climes  of 
Southern  Europe.  Suppose  America  to  be  the  old  country 
and  Europe  the  new,  and  that  the  tide  of  emigration  set 
eastward,  it  would  naturally  be  directed  to  the  banks  of 
the  Garonne,  tiie  Tagus,  the  Gaudalquiver,  or  to  the  shores 
of  Italy  or  Sicily,  not  to  the  Elbe  or  the  Baltic.  Such  is 
the  case  with  us  at  present— the  tide  of  European  emigra- 
tion sets  toward  tiie  broad  rich  lands  of  the  United  States. 
But  let  these  get  filled  in  another  couple  of  centuries,  when 
laud  now  sold  at  $1  an  acre  will  be  paying  an  annual  rent 
of  $5  or  $6,  and  it  will  be  as  difficult  to  get  a  living  there 
as  now  in  the  crowded  countries  of  Europe  :  when  taxa- 
tion will  be  increased,  perhaps  large  standing  armies  kept 
on  foot ;  then  the  people  of  these  northern  regions,  in- 
creasing and  multiplying,  will  cultivate  their  now  waste 
lands,  as  the  Swedes,  the  Danes,  the  Russians,  and  Prus- 
sians have  done,  when  there  was  no  outlet  for  them,  and 
Newfoundland  will  count  its  population,  not  by  thousands, 
but  by  millions.  The  increase  at  present,  independent  of 
any  emigration,  is  thirty-three  per  cent,  at  least  every  ten 
years.  Take  the  present  population  at  say  130,000,  and 
that  is  a  very  low  estimate,  and  see  then  what  it  will 
amount  to  in  even  another  century— over  two  millions !  I 
do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  increase  will  be  so  constantly 
progressive,  but  it  must  be  at  least  ten-fold— 1,300,000. 
The  present  generation  of  Newfoundland  then  leaves  a 
mighty  inheritance  to  tlieir  children,  and  we  are  now  form 


!l!    ^ 


ill  i 


I  I'r 


ii 


60 

ing  the  character  of  a  future  nation.    The  de-elopn.cnt  of 
the  people  is  certain.    Religion,  education,  and  industry 
are  indispensable  to  make  them  a  great  people.     Consider 
what  xNowfoundland  was  fifty  years  ago,  and  then  you  may 
imagine  what  it  will  be  a  century  hence.    I  hope,  then  I 
have  drawn  your  attention  to  the  past  and  present  state 
of  the  country  in  this  and  my  former  lecture,  and  excited 
your  hopes  for  its  future  prosperity.     I  hove  merely 
glanced  at  the  subjects  1  treated  of-to  take  them  up  in 
detail  would  require  many  lectures  longer  then  the  present 
greater  abilities  than  I  possess,  and  deeper  research  than 
I  could  afford  to  give  to  the  subject.    However,  the  man 
who  brings  only  a  single  .tone  to  an  edifice  contributes  to 
Its  erection.     Before  I  close,  I  consider  it  due  to  one  In- 
stitute to  make  special  mention  of  it~I  mean  that  Society 
of  Religious  Ladies,  the  Nuns,  who  are  now  engaged  in 
the  great  work  of  female  education,  in  moulding  the  char- 
acters of  generations  yet  unborn,  instructing  in  religion 
industry,  and  refinement  the  future  mothers  of  the  peoplJ 
of  Newfoundland.     We  may  look  with  confidence  to  those     • 
who  come  after  us  when  such  a  religious  foundation  is  laid 
I  thank  you  sincerely,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  for  the  atten* 
tion  you  have  shown  to  this  long  lecture,  assuring  you  in 
all  sincerity,  that  whatever  observations  I  made  in  'the 
course  of  it  were  dictated  solely  by  a  love  for  our  native 
or  adopted  country— Newfoundland. 


